A review by bookish_brain1
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe

4.0

The secret history of the Sackler dynasty, this book reads like fiction, so if you find nonfiction difficult to read, I would definitely recommend this book. A fun side note, this author also has a podcast called Winds of Change on Spotify which explores this conspiracy theory that the CIA used the band The Scorpions and the song Winds of Change to infiltrate the communist Soviet Union and break it up from within. It's a really fun listen, and Patrick is a master of recreating real events in a way that feels interesting and fictional. This book though...y'all it was tough. I could not find one redeeming quality in this entire family. How this tragic story of opioids begins with the Sackler family but then spiderwebs out in a million different directions from doctors to pharmacies to the FDA and the DEA is just heartbreakingly sickening. The grave injustices committed and illustrated within the pages of this book are hard to digest. The arguments made by Purdue Pharma aka the Sackler family "mirrored the libertarian position of a firearms manufacturer who insists that he bears no responsibility for gun deaths. It is a peculiar hallmark of the American economy that you can produce a dangerous product and effectively off-load any legal liability for whatever destruction that product may cause by pointing to the individual responsibility of the consumer." The problem with this particular hypothesis is that addiction to oxycontin didn't just occur in recreational abusers, it also victimized those legitimately needing pain management and only initially taking as prescribed. Patrick explores the history of the Sackler family and the timeline of the opioid epidemic through his brand of masterful storytelling. It's not an issue that has impacted me directly, but after reading this book, it feels deeply personal.