Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origins of America's Opioid Epidemic

Barry Meier's book "Pain Killer" was the first to expose the Sackler family's role in the opioid crisis, igniting a plague of addiction and death across America.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 29 October 2020
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

This is the book that started it all. Barry Meier is a heroic reporter and "Pain Killer" is a muckraking classic. Patrick Radden Keefe, author of "Empire of Pain," has written a new book that delves into the origins of the opioid crisis in America.

Every catastrophe has a beginning. For the opioid crisis in America, the seed was a drug called OxyContin. First hailed as a miracle drug for severe pain in the early 1990s, OxyContin went on to ignite a plague of addiction and death across America, fuelled by the aggressive marketing of its maker, Purdue Pharma, and the billionaire Sackler brothers who owned the company.

Investigative journalist Barry Meier was the first to write about the elusive Sackler family, their role in this catastrophic epidemic, and the army of local doctors, law enforcement, and worried parents that tried to bring them down.

The book is a searing indictment of the pharmaceutical industry, the medical profession, and the government agencies that failed to regulate the drug. It also provides a heartbreaking portrait of the lives of the people who were addicted to OxyContin and the families who were torn apart by the crisis.

"Pain Killer" is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the origins of the opioid crisis and the ongoing battle against addiction. It is a powerful and important book that will leave readers feeling both angry and hopeful.

Weight: 170g
Dimension: 128 x 197 x 29 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781529356168