This book should be next on your list.

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe

In 1996, Oxycontin was promoted for chronic pain. Was this drug in fact the “taproot” of the opioid epidemic? This book is about Oxycontin and the family behind the pharmaceutical company producing it.

Oxycontin (oxycodone) was first manufactured in the 1990s by the Purdue Pharmaceutical Company. The company was owned by the Sackler family who purchased it in the 1950s. Initially three Sackler brothers, all psychiatrists, owned it. Many believe that medical advertising also had its inception with the Sackler family.

The book has three parts (or books within the book). Book one is largely about the oldest Sackler brother and the evolution of the family empire. Book two focuses on Oxycontin and its wide circulation. Book three continues the saga about the company, the family who owns it, the drug itself and the legacy of all of these.

Questions to consider as one reads:

Was the public, even the medical community, misled about Oxycontin?

Was one family largely responsible for one of the deadliest epidemics in this country?

Again, was Oxycontin the source of the epidemic?

What should our approach to medical advertising be today?