"As they sought to hide from a historic crisis of their own creation, the Sacklers could sometimes seem like Pandora, gazing slack-jawed, at the momentous downstream consequences of their own decisions. They told the world, and themselves, that the jar was full of blessings, that it was a gift from the gods. Then they opened it, and they were wrong."
Wow! When this book was suggested for our Page Turners list, I had no clue about the title never having heard the name Sackler. I surely know it now! I was intimidated at first by the size---just over 450 pages plus nearly 100 pages of notes but this narrative nonfiction read like fiction and had me turning pages like crazy! I discovered I had read another by this author, Say Nothing about "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland, and found it fascinating, as well. This one rates a 5 in my opinion.
Although I didn't know the significance of the title to start with, I certainly was familiar with the devastating opioid crisis, the focus of Keefe's reporting. He was studying Mexican drug cartels in 2016 when he came across information that would involve him in this expose. He began with an article in the New Yorker about the Sacklers' involvement in "pushing" these addictive drugs which led to the eventual follow up of this book, begun in 2019.
It would be very difficult to summarize this book, which is so dense with facts, figures, people (some famous names), quotes and descriptions. I will just say this much: Arthur, Mortimer and Raymond Sackler are/were three brothers who became doctors and got into the business of pharmaceuticals, making loads of money. When they developed OxyContin, the troubles began.
Read Empire of Pain to find out more!
Page Turners meet in a week. Wonder what they will think....
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Post Page Turners' meeting 8/25/2022
Our group voted an average rating of 4.2 for this book although several members admitted not having read the entire book and so abstained from rating it. Almost all of us were impressed with the amount of research and the way in which it was presented. Some thought it was just too much information to get through. I believe we all were glad we were exposed to the topic; we learned a lot!
Our discussion was especially engaging since a few ladies present had backgrounds in the medical fields and so had first-hand knowledge of the techniques of pharmaceutical sales reps. A few had personal knowledge of the danger of pain medication---either themselves or others. One member had actually watched the Sackler trial.
Even though this book is certainly not a fun read and, in many places made us angry, it is important to know the origins of the opioid crisis and how adversely it has affected our country.
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