Author Patrick O'Neill says he wanted to focus on one man, arthur sakle. He was a psychiatrist but also involved in medical advertising at the time of oxicontant's release. His family would later market valum, another drug which was the block buster drug of its day. The book is written using documents released by discovery procedures in court cases against the company. And just as he did with his excellent books, say nothing on the troubles in northern ireland, he then created this remarkably readable and pacy account of a devastating period in all too recent history.
How did one family become associated with an epidemic of drug addiction that has caused the death of almost half a million people?
In this episode, award-winning writer and author of Empire of Pain, Patrick Radden Keefe speaks to Hannah Kuchler, the FT’s global pharmaceutical correspondent about how he uncovered fresh material on the Sacklers and discovered a modern parable of greed, corruption and cynical philanthropy.
To buy the book click here: https://www.primrosehillbooks.com/product/empire-of-pain-the-secret-history-of-the-sackler-dynasty-patrick-keefe-subscribers/
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