⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️(5)

🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧(5)

Format: Hardcover and audio

Status: Borrowed from library and Audio via Spotify

Published:

Soundtrack mood: Love is a Losing Game- Amy Winehouse

As a physician who trained in rural Tennessee and North Carolina, I have taken care of hundreds of opioid addicts; it is impossible to put into words the devastation opioids have taken in these communities and throughout the globe. Yet, somehow, Patrick Radden Keefe manages to bring the root of that suffering to light. In Empire of Pain, we learn the origins of not only the opioid epidemic but also the origins of the Sackler Family, their philanthropy, their marketing agencies, and their pharmaceutical company Purdue. Keefe tells us the story of three brothers, Arthur, Mortimer, and Raymond, who had humble beginnings and went on to create a pharmacy and philanthropy empire. From the Great Depression and supporting his brothers to the beginning of marketing pharmaceuticals directly to doctors with Valium and Betadine, Arthur Sackler built wealth and power for himself and his brothers. They used this wealth to become huge collectors of art and philanthropic champions. They donated to hospitals, art galleries and medical schools. 

The book’s second part dives into the second generation of Sacklers and their efforts to bring OxyC*ntin to market. The third part of the book focuses on the aggressive marketing of opioids, the cover-ups of rising rates of addiction and the millions spent on encouraging excessive prescribing. Since 1998 opioids have killed over 800,000 Americans,  yet much of the philanthropic legacy of the Sacklers continued to bare their names as late as 2019. 

If you never read nonfiction, this would be a great place to start with true crime and family drama to get you hooked. Keefe’s writing is fresh and engaging and keeps you enthralled until the end. The audio read by the author himself is well done and enthralling. This book is a must-read for anyone in the medical field or for anyone who wants to understand the origins of this epidemic better. 

*** if you or a loved one suffers from substance use disorder please call 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or look at findtreatment.gov ***

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