Review by Myra Salzer
A silver lining of the COVID pandemic for me has been reading more. I’ve never read so much. Ever! And I plan to continue even after we return to a post-COVID life. I initially made a deal with myself to read at least one non-fiction book between each set of fun novels. As it turns out, I’ve been reading only one fiction book for each three or four non-fictions. Keefe’s book is the latest non-fiction I’ve read.
Needless to say, I am always intrigued by families of wealth and how their relationships with money interfere with their relationships with other family members and with the outside world. This book did not disappoint in that realm.
The ethical gray line for the Sacklers seems to have started in the early 1950s. Arthur Sackler (the family patriarch) and his younger brothers, Mortimer and Raymond, were friends with Bill Frohlich at a time when Jews (Sacklers) didn’t befriend Germans (Frohlichs). They each had their own advertising agency that specialized in the pharmaceutical industry. The two firms were the only game in town. They appeared to compete fiercely, and pharmaceutical companies were thrilled if one or the other firm accepted them as clients, paying large fees of course. What wasn’t understood (throughout Arthur’s entire lifetime) was that the four of them all had ownership in both ad firms. They colluded…and profited.
Later, Arthur started additional businesses in related fields. “Arthur seems to have been aware that some might perceive a potential conflict between his roles as head of both a medical newspaper (Medical Tribune) and a pharmaceutical advertising firm. He once explained that his tendency to remain obscure and anonymous as much as possible sprang from a sense that this would enable him to do things the way he wanted to do them.” Ethics be damned!
Later, he bought a small, innocuous company called “The Purdue Frederick Company,” which he gave to his younger brothers. When OxyContin was developed, the brothers spun a new entity, Purdue Pharma. They learned from their older brother how to protect assets and remain anonymous.
And the saga continues through 2020.
John Oliver did a segment on the topic a couple years ago, and next week HBO is running a two-part documentary, Crime of the Century.
This book is well researched and written. A treasure.