I think because they knew this day would come when there'd be all these lawsuits. And part of the reason is that the Sacklers had been quietly taking money out of the company for years. So you might wonder how they could be declaring bankruptcy. Patrick Radden Keefe: Purdue Pharma declared bankruptcy in 2019, right? The oddity of that was that the company had made so much money. I guess I should just ask you, what do you know about the current state of the money? Right? And I know that Connecticut's AG and a handful of other states have non consent complaints against the bankruptcy procedures because the Sacklers are not actually bankrupt. So I know it was October I believe that the DOJ said we have finished our investigations. I don't want to keep you too long, and I'm just I'm going to start with attempting to clarify what's going on currently. 'Empire of Pain' beat five other finalists: Cal Flyn's environmental exploration 'Islands of Abandonment' Harald Jahner's 'Aftermath: Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich, 1945-1955' Kei Miller's essays on discrimination, 'Things I Have Withheld' John Preston's media mogul biography 'Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell' and Albanian writer Lea Ypi's memoir 'Free: Coming of Age at the End of History.'ĭon’t miss out on ET Prime stories! Get your daily dose of business updates on WhatsApp.Hannah McCarthy: Let's dig in.

The Baillie Gifford Prize recognizes English-language books from any country in current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts. 'If anything, some of the pressure that I got persuaded me that I was probably on the right track.' 'It wasn't a situation where I ever thought about bailing, particularly under pressure from the family,' he told The Associated Press. federal judge gave conditional approval to a settlement that would remove the family from ownership of Purdue and reorganize the business into a charity-oriented company whose profits would go to government-directed efforts to prevent and treat addiction.Īccepting the prize, Keefe thanked 'all of the many lawyers who advised me about what to do with all the incoming mail' when facing threats from the Sackler family during his work on the book. Sackler family members have denied wrongdoing, although their company has pleaded guilty twice to federal crimes over their opioid practices. Some opioid deaths have been attributed to Ox圜ontin and other prescription painkillers, though most are from illicit forms of opioids such as heroin and illegally made fentanyl.

Book on the sackler family