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'Empire of Pain' Traces Wave of Addiction from Family's Fortune

'Empire of Pain' Traces Wave of Addiction from Family's Fortune

KQED's Forum

May 19, 202155m 51s

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Show Notes

Nearly half a million Americans died from opioid abuse between 1999 and 2019 and one family’s name has become synonymous with that crisis.  The Sacklers, who own Purdue Pharma, built their wealth promoting the blockbuster addictive painkiller OxyContin. The company continues to face civil litigation for their role in helping ignite the epidemic of opioid addiction.  Journalist Patrick Radden Keefe joins us to talk about his new book “Empire of Pain”, which chronicles the history of the Sackler family and critically examines corporate ethics in the pharmaceutical industry.

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