![Empire of Pain - Patrick Radden Keefe, [美国] 帕特里克·拉登·基夫](https://static.book345.com/covers/s/9780385545686.jpg)
书籍介绍
这不是一本关于药品的书，而是一部关于“体面”如何被明码标价的调查实录。作者把镜头对准萨克勒家族——他们的名字镌刻在哈佛、大都会博物馆、牛津与卢浮宫的墙面上，是艺术与科学的慷慨赞助者；而这份财富的源头，是一盒名为奥施康定的止痛药。全书最刺骨之处，在于它不满足于揭露一家公司的贪婪，而是层层剖开一个精巧的免责机制：当产品致人成瘾、夺人性命，资本只需把责任推给“使用者本人”——“成瘾者不是受害者，而是加害者”。于是社会达尔文在自由市场的旗号下完美落地：识别不出的人死去，能起诉的留下。读者反复回味的，正是这种“有钱能使鬼推磨”的冷硬现实：家族最终握着巨额财富优雅退场，而冠名招牌却纷纷被摘除。它适合所有对“慈善与罪恶能否共存”这一命题感到不适的人。
作者简介
Patrick Radden Keefe is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author, most recently, of the New York Times bestseller Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, which received the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, was selected as one of the ten best books of 2019 by The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune and The Wall Street Journal, and was named one of the “10 Best Nonfiction Books of the Decade” by Entertainment Weekly. His previous books are The Snakehead and Chatter. His work has been recognized with a Guggenheim Fellowship, the National Magazine Award for Feature Writing and the Orwell Prize for Political Writing. He is also the creator and host of the eight-part podcast Wind of Change.
AI导读
核心看点
- 萨克勒家族三代发家史，从医药营销到阿片危机。
- 揭露慈善光环下，资本如何腐蚀医疗与司法体系。
- 普利策奖得主基夫的非虚构杰作，叙事如小说精彩。
读者共识
- 写作精湛，调查详实，被誉为非虚构写作的典范之作。
- 萨克勒家族用金钱洗白罪行，令人震惊且深感愤怒。
- 深刻揭示有钱能使鬼推磨，资本对公共机构的侵蚀。
精彩摘录
- "But it is also true that people who achieve a certain level of wealth and professional renown often tend, at a certain point, to start buying art. Perhaps this mode of acquisition is an effort to silence some inner doubt about their own place in the culture, or perhaps it merely represents a new rea"
- "But Arthur and his brothers were born into what has been described as the golden age of American medicine, a period during the early twentieth century when the efficacy of medicine—and the credibility of the medical profession—were greatly enhanced by new scientific discoveries about the sources of "
- "In some ways, Richard's argument about OxyContin mirrored the libertarian position of a firearms manufacturer who insists that he bears no responsibility for gun deaths. Guns don't kill people; people kill people. It is a peculiar hallmark of the American economy that you can produce a dangerous pro"
- "But for the moment, Representative Greenwood knew none of this. He had no reason to believe that the delegation from Purdue would be anything less than straightforward with him, and he was cordial and gracious, at pains not to make Friedman or his colleagues feel as though the committee were treatin"
- "The next day, Richard followed up, saying, "I'd like to try an argument on you. I believe the media has nefariously cast the drug abuser as a victim instead of a victimizer." For people who knew Richard, this refrain had probably grown a bit tiresome by now. But Wettlaufer had put himself forward as"
- "But there was an underlying theme in the letters that insinuated, without ever saying so explicitly, that wealthy white executives - men with families and impressive educational pedigrees, men who give to charity and play an important role in their local communities - were temperamentally incapable "
- "To the casual observer, the reformulation of OxyContin might have appeared to be an instance in which the Sacklers, after years of obstructing efforts to curb the disastrous impacts of their painkiller, had finally seen the error of their ways. But the timing of the reformulation was interesting - a"
- "One unadvertised hazard in the life of a plutocrat is that the people around you can be prone to yes-man sycophancy. In theory, you should be able to avail yourself of state-of-the-art counsel. But instead, you often get lousy advice, because your courtiers are careful to tell you only what they thi"
用户评论
Audible听完的，真的是好书，徐徐展开Sackler家族的发迹史，同时也是美国长达20年的鸦片药物起始到泛滥的描绘。Arthur Sackler颠覆了medical advertising，开启了对医疗监管的腐化。之后Richard和他兄弟毫无道德，疯狂敛财，可鄙之极。最后几章却充满无力感，Sackler家族充分利用破产保护，很可能全身而退，难以理解。希望更多人能读到这本书，把Sackler这个名字钉在耻辱柱上。作者的研究非常深入，调查类纪实小说的典范。
这书是豆友“光明小卖部”，临床研究专业人士，强烈推荐给我的。的确好书，大概算investigative journalism的典范了，写这个家族的发迹史，就能记录美国医药营销（面对医疗界和大众两个受众）所有机制从初生到统治性渗透的全过程，还包括对政治和政府部门的影响力渗透，和“黑镜”一样奇幻，如果不是更奇幻的话。我以前看过很多本药厂渗透医疗行业诊断标准的书，这本是最跌宕起伏和魔幻现实主义的。值得一读！说实话，一个医药营销之父开办的药厂，这么多年死守鸦片类止痛药，所有经历都投入在销量，掩盖成瘾和可以被滥用的事实，以及延长专利期，根本无心开发新药，完全就是社会毒瘤，却又是各个大学和艺术博物馆拼死捧住的大慈善家。这才是现实。
即便跻身欧美上流社会，坐拥数百亿美元的财富，身负世界慈善名流家族的名衔，魔鬼就是魔鬼。他们疯狂地攫取暴利、追逐名誉，无情地侵害上百万人的健康，胶割已遭渗漏的社会财富。罔顾社会责任的资本运力，勾连成网，侵蚀美国政府、司法、商业、监管、咨询、科研、学术、社群、公共言论，酿成一场全美范围的毒祸：在过去的20多年里，致使美国50万余人死亡；整整一代人在药物成瘾和继发毒品依赖的深渊挣扎求生；损失2万亿美元，仍无法扑灭鸦片滥用似瘟疫般蔓延。始作俑者正是显赫的Sackler家族。盛名耀目的光环，隐匿、区隔的存在状态，延续三代的行为事实，Keefe紧扣以冲突构成的主线，凭借掘坟一般的调研功力，将分裂的真相曝光于公众视野。也许Sackler家的人以为，并期待，他们的罪行会像因风而起的柳絮如烟。那只是一种断见。
在这个资源有限的零和博弈的世界里，最贪婪最残忍的人才能爬到财富金字塔顶端。黑格尔说“存在即合（乎）理（性）”。
文笔流畅，思路清晰，信息量很大。觉得美国在闹文革的人，一请你们多读书，增长人生见识，二请你们读读这本书。这么罪恶深重极端邪恶的家族，还能玩有钱人的游戏，钻法律的空子，可能全身而退，文革你爹呢？美国需要社会主义，来一点专制不仅不过，非常急需。
Take it with a pinch of salt. No, two pinches of salt.
Some people are addicted to drugs, they are addicted to money
我以為Book 1的stereotypical老白男發家史已經很讓人血壓飆升了，沒想到Book 2&3裡二代三代們的pathological-denial and accountability-avoiding真是歎為觀止的rage-inducing。我相信第一代進入製藥業的出發點是好的，第二代發明oxycontin的出發點是好的。但因為上市前的研究不足，以及aggressive advertising (no thanks to Arthur Sackler and his methods)導致現在opioid crisis這家人的作為 (or lack thereof)肯定是有直接關係的。書裡揭露出有問題的不僅是這家人，不僅是製藥業，不僅是資本，還有不作為的FDA、司法機構和法律漏洞
看得恶向胆边生……真的太气了……就实话讲他们一开始说病人的疼痛不应该被忽视、应该推广对疼痛的治疗的时候我确实很同意，至少这个出发点是没错的，但是可怕的是他们极度aggressive的营销方式，以及东窗事发之后理直气壮地撇清关系……另外我始终觉得医疗行业和教育行业，由于从业者和消费者的信息不对称过于严重，甚至有一些权利上下游倒置的感觉，因此这两个行业的商业化是危险的、自由竞争是不利于消费者的，但是完全依靠（往往underfunded的）公费医疗、公立学校教育又远远不能满足需求，这其中的矛盾实在是很难解决
“ a story about ambition, philanthropy, crime and impunity, the corruption of institutions, power, and greed.“
A masterpiece of nonfiction writing. The roadmap is amazing. Reading it feels like I was immersed in watching all top-picked episodes of Succession, Dopesick and Dark Water without having to use a remote. 有钱能使鬼推磨的完全调查故事
