{"product_id":"empire-of-pain-patrick-radden-keefe-9781984899019","title":"Empire of Pain | Patrick Radden Keefe","description":"\u003ch2\u003eEmpire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty | Patrick Radden Keefe\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"\u003eHow did a respected philanthropic dynasty build an empire on the devastation of the opioid crisis? \u003cstrong\u003ePatrick Radden Keefe \u003c\/strong\u003einvestigates in \u003cem\u003eEmpire of Pain\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAbout the Book:\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe history of the \u003cstrong\u003eSackler dynasty \u003c\/strong\u003eis rife with drama baroque personal lives; bitter disputes over estates; fistfights in boardrooms; glittering art collections; Machiavellian courtroom maneuvers; and the calculated use of money to burnish reputations and crush the less powerful.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"\u003eThe Sackler name has adorned the walls of many storied institutions; Harvard, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oxford, the Louvre.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey are one of the richest families in the world, known for their lavish donations to the arts and the sciences. The source of the family fortune was vague, however, until it emerged that the Sacklers were responsible for making and marketing a blockbuster painkiller that was the catalyst for the \u003cstrong\u003eopioid crisis\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEmpire of Pain \u003c\/em\u003ebegins with the story of three doctor brothers, Raymond, Mortimer and the incalculably energetic Arthur, who weathered the poverty of the Great Depression and appalling anti-Semitism.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWorking at a barbaric mental institution, Arthur saw a better way and conducted groundbreaking research into drug treatments. He also had a genius for marketing, especially for pharmaceuticals, and bought a small ad firm. Arthur devised the marketing for Valium and built the first great Sackler fortune.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe purchased a drug manufacturer, \u003cstrong\u003ePurdue Frederick\u003c\/strong\u003e, which would be run by Raymond and Mortimer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe brothers began collecting art, and wives, and grand residences in exotic locales. Their children and grandchildren grew up in luxury. Forty years later, Raymond's son Richard ran the family-owned Purdue.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe template Arthur Sackler created to sell \u003cstrong\u003eValium \u003c\/strong\u003eco-opting doctors, influencing the FDA, downplaying the drugs addictiveness was employed to launch a far more potent product: \u003cstrong\u003eOxyContin\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe drug went on to generate some thirty-five billion dollars in revenue, and to launch a public health crisis in which hundreds of thousands would die. This is the saga of three generations of a single family and the mark they would leave on the world, a tale that moves from the bustling streets of early twentieth-century Brooklyn to the seaside palaces of Greenwich, Connecticut, and Cap Antibes to the corridors of power in Washington, D.C.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEmpire of Pain\u003c\/em\u003e chronicles the multiple investigations of the Sacklers and their company, and the scorched-earth legal tactics that the family has used to evade accountability.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEmpire of Pain\u003c\/em\u003e is a masterpiece of narrative reporting and writing, exhaustively documented and ferociously compelling.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is a portrait of the excesses of Americas second Gilded Age, a study of impunity among the super elite and a relentless investigation of the naked greed and \u003cstrong\u003eindifference to human suffering \u003c\/strong\u003ethat built one of the world’s great fortunes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFrequently Asked Questions About \u003cem\u003eEmpire of Pain\u003c\/em\u003e:\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eQ: \u003c\/strong\u003eIs this book an abstract academic study on corporate regulation or a narrative story?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA:\u003c\/strong\u003e It functions as a highly dramatic, fast-paced family saga. Reviewers frequently compare it to a real-life version of the HBO series Succession because it traces three generations of intense boardroom fights, personal eccentricities, multi-million-dollar art collections, and fierce legal battles over family assets.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eQ: \u003c\/strong\u003eDoes the book only cover the contemporary opioid epidemic or does it go further back?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA: \u003c\/strong\u003eThe narrative spans nearly a century. It starts during the Great Depression with the patriarch Arthur Sackler and his brilliant, early medical advertising strategies that built a massive fortune selling Valium. It then moves forward to trace how his descendants used those exact marketing methods to build Purdue Pharma and launch OxyContin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eQ: \u003c\/strong\u003eWhat specific corporate tactics and strategies are exposed in the text?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA: \u003c\/strong\u003eAuthor Patrick Radden Keefe documents how the family and their firm aggressively drove sales by co-opting prominent physicians, heavily lobbying the FDA, utilizing misleading safety marketing data, and downplaying the drug's addictive qualities while hiding behind elite philanthropic donations to protect their public names.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eQ: \u003c\/strong\u003eHow reliable and well-researched is the journalism inside this book?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA: \u003c\/strong\u003eThe research is world-class and definitive. Patrick Radden Keefe is an acclaimed staff writer for The New Yorker. He constructed the book out of hundreds of exclusive interviews, leaked internal company emails, secret boardroom transcripts, and deep-level legal depositions obtained after years of investigative reporting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eQ: \u003c\/strong\u003eDoes the book outline the legal outcomes and investigations faced by the family?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes. The final chapters deliver a thorough, high-stakes chronicle of the massive multi-state investigations, congressional hearings, high-profile lawsuits, and the complex \"scorched-earth\" legal maneuvers the family deployed to preserve their wealth and avoid personal liability.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAbout the Author:\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePatrick Radden Keefe: \u003c\/strong\u003eAmerican Writer\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePatrick Radden Keefe \u003c\/strong\u003eis a staff writer at The New Yorker, an Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fellow at the New America Foundation and the author of \u003cem\u003eThe Snakehead\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eChatter\u003c\/em\u003e. His work has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Slate, New York, and The New York Review of Books, among others and he is a frequent commentator on NPR, the BBC, and MSNBC.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePatrick received the 2014 National Magazine Award for Feature Writing, for his story \"A Loaded Gun,\" was a finalist for the National Magazine Award for Reporting in 2015 and 2016, and is also the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eBibliographic Data:\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFull Title:\u003c\/strong\u003e Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor(s): \u003c\/strong\u003ePatrick Radden Keefe\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher \u0026amp; Imprint: \u003c\/strong\u003eVintage Books (An imprint of Knopf Doubleday \/ Penguin Random House)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date: \u003c\/strong\u003eOctober 18, 2022 (Original hardcover published April 2021)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBook Binding: \u003c\/strong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCondition:\u003c\/strong\u003e Pre-Owned \/ Very Good\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eEdition:\u003c\/strong\u003e Reprint \/ Trade Paperback Edition\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePages: \u003c\/strong\u003e640\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLanguage: \u003c\/strong\u003eEnglish \/ en-us\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9781984899019\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1984899015\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLibrary of Congress (LCCN):\u003c\/strong\u003e 2020055412\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePrimary Genre (BISAC): \u003c\/strong\u003eBIOGRAPHY \u0026amp; AUTOBIOGRAPHY \/ Rich \u0026amp; Famous\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSub-Genres (BISAC):\u003c\/strong\u003e BUSINESS \u0026amp; ECONOMICS \/ Industries \/ Pharmaceutical \u0026amp; Biotechnology; TRUE CRIME \/ White Collar Crime; HISTORY \/ United States \/ 21st Century\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions: \u003c\/strong\u003e5.1 x 1.11 x 7.95 inches\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWeight:\u003c\/strong\u003e 13.5 oz (approx. 0.84 lbs)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePharmaceutical greed, corporate corruption, and the tragic roots of the opioid epidemic. \u003cstrong\u003ePatrick Radden Keefe\u003c\/strong\u003e exposes the Sackler dynasty in \u003cem\u003eEmpire of Pain\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExplore the shocking corporate history and hidden tragedy behind the Sackler family empire. Tap to discover Patrick Radden Keefe's book \u003cem\u003eEmpire of Pain\u003c\/em\u003e!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bust-Down Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49885233054011,"sku":"1984899015","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0855\/2077\/7531\/files\/9781984899019.jpg?v=1787245839","url":"https:\/\/bustdownbooks.com\/products\/empire-of-pain-patrick-radden-keefe-9781984899019","provider":"Bust-Down Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}