Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty, by Patrick Radden Keefe was published on April 13, 2021. He read the book himself for the audio version: a great book with a great diction.
The author, Patrick Radden Keefe (1976-; Say Nothing in 2018) has an arm long of school list: Columbia, Cambridge, LSE and Yale law, which came in handy in writing this book, I suppose. But by no mean I want to diminish his great ability to write clearly and fluently.
Keefe won Baillie Gifford Prize (£50,000 or $67,000) at London’s Science Museum in 2021.
The subjects: they’re 👿 EVIL 👿 and unapologetic. Some are born Sackler, some are married into, and some are hired guns. Together, they rule Purdue Pharma that produces OxyContin 💊, which is addictive and can kill. It’s a story ‘about ambition, philanthropy, crime, and impunity, the corruption of institutions, power and greed.’
Nan Goldin said, “The whole Sackler clan is evil.” It’s so true.
Isaac Sackler said upon his death, that “If you lost a fortune, you can always earn another, he pointed out. But if you lose your good name, you can never get it back.” He and Sophie Greenberg had three sons: Arthur (1913-87), Mortimer (1926-2010), and Raymond (1920-2017). Arthur made his fortune in medical advertising, and amassed the largest Asian collection. The two younger brothers were the driving force of the OxyContin.
My first encounter with Sackler was Sackler Gallery in DC and the Dendur Temple @ the Met … I remembered to think hard: what do/did they do/make to amass this type of fortune? Every major museums/universities around the world has their presence. But I came up empty.
The reason? The Sacklers don’t want you to know … They aren’t proud of their only product. OxyContin is a pain killer. It’s addictive (Sackler lied) and deadly, and they even tried to market it to children age 11 and up in 2015.
My second encounter was when the attorney generals around the country banding together to sue Purdue Pharmaceuticals (privately owned by the Sacklers) and eight members of Sackler clan, over the damage their only product caused: the opioid crisis a couple of years ago. And the AGs or public opinion was that the settlement would not only come from the family but their soon bankrupted company, which Sacklers had transferred vase amount of cash out, into their personal accounts, but from their personal fortune. The Sackler clan might have the last laugh since they had drained Purdue, transferred money into their personal accounts.
The opioid crisis has the main player, the Sackers but FDA and many hired guns, such as Mary Jo White (the once much praised NY DA who prosecuted John Gotti …) have enabled the Scaklers in their decades long endeavor.
I seldom take drugs or pain killers but once, a doctor gave me a pain killer, might have been Vicodin (?), which I didn’t take.
A few characters in the book:
Madeleine Sackler, the daughter (1983-); a granddaughter of Raymond and film maker. In 2018 she directed and produced O.G., about a prisoner was to be released after serving two decades.
Joss Sackler (1984-) married to Raymond’s grandson David. In the mist of settlement talk in 2019, she debuted her fashion line LBV at NYFW. Because of poor attendance, she tried to entice Courtney Love to come, dangling $100,000 carrot. Love was an OxyContin addict and was recovering, who cursed Joss. Their exchange was a fire show.
Mary Jo White (1947-) made a name for herself as the New York DA (district attorney; 1993-2002) who prosecuted mafia boss John Gotti, earning the dragon lady moniker. However, after stepping down from the Chair of SEC, she joined the Sackler’s camp (later retained by Les Wexner to fend off sex offender Jeffrey Epstein investigation).
一个关于家族王朝的三代人和改变世界的传奇: 一个关于野心,慈善,犯罪和有罪不罚,制度腐败,权力和贪婪的故事. 慈善是商业交易
乔斯 (Joss Sackler; 1984-) 嫁给了小弟雷蒙德的孙子大卫. 在 2019 年和谈，她在纽约时装周推出了她的时装系列 LBV. 由于没人肯去捧场 她试图用10 万美元做交换请 Courtney Love 来. 大脑进水了?!? Love 是奥施康定的瘾君子, 刚刚戒掉 在康复. 她们的邮件往来是一场针锋相对的烟火秀.
怀特 (Mary Jo White, 1947-) 作为纽约检察官 (1993-2002 年) 她起诉了黑手党头目约翰·戈蒂,获得了龙女的绰号. 然而,在卸任美国证券交易委员会主席后,她加入了萨克勒阵营(后来被莱斯·韦克斯纳保留以抵御性犯罪者杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的调查). 很难想象 正义凛然的检察官 华丽转身…婊的让人目瞪口呆.
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