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A review by roctothorpe
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
5.0
This is easily one of the most gripping and page-turning books I've ever read. Patrick Radden Keefe tells the insidious story of how the Sacklers fueled the opioid epidemic, one of the worst public health crises in American history. Have you ever wondered how it is possible that a family with the blood of hundreds of thousands on their hands could get their name emblazoned on art institutions, universities, and hospitals around the world? This book chronicles three generations of the Sackler dynasty and how they built their empire of pain by capitalizing on and promoting addiction.
To be frank, I have never before come across anyone as truly evil as the Sackler family. It is impossible to overstate the recklessness and moral depravity of how OxyContin was promoted and how the Sacklers willfully deceived patients and doctors about the drug's addictive potential. They knew that people were dying and did absolutely nothing, rather they doubled down on their mission of pushing OxyContin sales as high as possible with zero sense of remorse or accountability. All the while, they used philanthropy as a moral shield when in reality it was little more than money laundering and attempts to buy the immortality of the Sackler name. I was constantly reminded of that quote from The Great Gatsby about how the rich “smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” This book is that quote personified, because while it does focus on the Sacklers themselves, Keefe also paints a scathing picture of how wealth is used to manipulate the FDA and the legal system, and how our social systems are specifically built to absolve the rich and powerful.
This story is astonishingly reported, riveting from start to finish, just perfectly executed investigative journalism. There are not enough stars in the rating system to properly convey how important this book is.
To be frank, I have never before come across anyone as truly evil as the Sackler family. It is impossible to overstate the recklessness and moral depravity of how OxyContin was promoted and how the Sacklers willfully deceived patients and doctors about the drug's addictive potential. They knew that people were dying and did absolutely nothing, rather they doubled down on their mission of pushing OxyContin sales as high as possible with zero sense of remorse or accountability. All the while, they used philanthropy as a moral shield when in reality it was little more than money laundering and attempts to buy the immortality of the Sackler name. I was constantly reminded of that quote from The Great Gatsby about how the rich “smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” This book is that quote personified, because while it does focus on the Sacklers themselves, Keefe also paints a scathing picture of how wealth is used to manipulate the FDA and the legal system, and how our social systems are specifically built to absolve the rich and powerful.
This story is astonishingly reported, riveting from start to finish, just perfectly executed investigative journalism. There are not enough stars in the rating system to properly convey how important this book is.