138:, Arthur was able to keep these associations hidden by leaving his brothers, friends, and ex-wife as figureheads for various companies. As Arthur continued to amass his fortune, he and his younger brothers begin to make important philanthropic contributions, donating money to museums and for scholarships. The brothers eventually grew estranged; when Arthur died in 1987, his complicated legacy was left to multiple heirs including his brothers, his wife, his ex-wife, and his four children. When the fight to split the assets devolved into acrimony, his children agreed to sell their shares in
153:. After Mortimer and Raymond joined the board at Purdue Frederick, the family began to roll out a sales force to sell Oxycodone using techniques pioneered by Arthur in order to influence politicians, government officials and doctors into endorsing the pill. Their new drug was an immediate success, but almost equally quickly, users began to abuse the drug. In 2010, the company discontinued their initial version of the drug and made a version that was impossible to crush; this led to a 25% drop in sales and a rise in
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While the family was eventually sued, the
Sacklers used their company to declare bankruptcy, link their personal finances to the fortunes of Purdue Frederick, and ultimately managed to escape any financial consequences at all. The family continued to maintain that they knew nothing about the abusive
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were children of Jewish immigrants that were raised in
Brooklyn. All three brothers became medical doctors, but the eldest, Arthur, showed a particular talent for advertising, combining both his passions by joining and later owning William Douglas McAdams Inc., an advertising firm that exclusively
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sought to insulate themselves both financially and publicly from the drug. All
Sacklers declined interviews and the Sacklers on the board of the company repeatedly voted to give themselves huge financial bonuses.
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and deceptive marketing practices of the company and maintained the lie that their opioids were not addictive and that the few people who abused their drugs were already addicts to begin with.
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noted that Empire of Pain differs from other coverage of the
Sackler's role in the opioid crisis, calling the book "principally a family history". Zachary Siegel, writing in
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called the book a "damning review" of the family's involvement in the opioid epidemic. Joanna Walter praised
Patrick Radden Keefe's telling of the decade-spanning story in
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to link the
Sacklers to the opioid crisis, led to stigmatization of the Sackler name with many museums and universities refusing financial gifts from the Sacklers.
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handled medicinal clients and pioneered the technique of advertising medication directly to doctors. Despite having many
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By 2017, a series of articles linking the
Sacklers to Oxycodone as well as a public campaign by photographer
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which was arguably caused by opioid abuse. As lawsuits began to build against Purdue
Frederick,
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293:"A new book traces the roots of the opioid crisis through the secretive Sackler family"
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104:, its role in the marketing of pharmaceuticals, and the family's central role in the
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388:"Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe"
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189:, a site that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a rating of
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28:
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351:"Empire of Pain review: the Sacklers, opioids and the sickening of America"
331:"Patrick Radden Keefe Lays Bare a Drug Crisis Fueled by Family Greed"
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594:"Baillie Gifford prize goes to 'controlled fury' of Empire of Pain"
142:, a small drug manufacturer, to their uncles Mortimer and Raymond.
619:"Shortlist revealed for FT and McKinsey Business Book of the Year"
108:. The book followed Keefe's 2017 article on the Sackler family in
568:"Announcing the Winners of the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards!"
531:"Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty"
413:"Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty"
311:"Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty"
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for
History & Biography, was shortlisted for the 2021
22:
Empire of Pain: The Secret
History of the Sackler Dynasty
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Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
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with their investment in research eventually leading to
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Mortimer and Raymond Sackler invested in research into
114:, titled "The Family That Built an Empire of Pain".
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263:Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction
181:The book received critical acclaim. According to
217:(4.20 out of 5), based on seven critic reviews.
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16:2021 non-fiction book by Patrick Radden Keefe
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259:and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award
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368:Keefe, Patrick Radden (October 23, 2017).
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737:J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize-winning works
370:"The Family That Built an Empire of Pain"
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96:. The book examines the history of the
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592:Flood, Alison (November 16, 2021).
511:Siegel, Zachary (April 23, 2021).
328:Carreyrou, Adam (April 13, 2021).
261:, and was longlisted for the 2022
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291:Joseph, Andrew (April 20, 2021).
274:s "10 Best Books of 2021" list.
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548:Walter, Joanna (May 25, 2021).
492:Jones, Sarah (April 17, 2021).
349:Green, Lloyd (April 18, 2021).
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513:"What Did the Sacklers Know?"
650:American Library Association
100:, including the founding of
712:Doubleday (publisher) books
673:"The 10 Best Books of 2021"
265:. It was also selected for
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494:"Philanthropic Monsters"
438:"Empire of Pain Reviews"
250:for Non-fiction and the
550:"Pills & Patronage"
717:English-language books
707:2021 non-fiction books
252:Goodreads Choice Award
246:The book won the 2021
248:Baillie Gifford Prize
136:conflicts of interest
722:Books about families
625:. September 24, 2021
94:Patrick Radden Keefe
40:Patrick Radden Keefe
681:. November 18, 2021
678:The Washington Post
448:on October 19, 2021
268:The Washington Post
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653:. October 17, 2021
442:Books in the Media
336:The New York Times
187:Books in the Media
159:the Sackler family
92:is a 2021 book by
535:Publishers Weekly
317:. April 13, 2021.
234:Publishers Weekly
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701:Categories
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183:Book Marks
167:Nan Goldin
572:Goodreads
472:Bookmarks
392:Bookmarks
177:Reception
151:Oxycodone
50:Doubleday
46:Publisher
498:New York
452:July 11,
397:July 30,
222:New York
127:Mortimer
147:opioids
118:Summary
155:heroin
129:, and
123:Arthur
36:Author
272:'
66:Pages
687:2021
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
