LONDON (AP) 鈥� A book about a wealthy American family whose actions helped unleash the United States鈥� opioid epidemic 鈥� described by its author as a 鈥渟tory of hubris鈥� 鈥� won Britain鈥檚 leading nonfiction book prize Tuesday.
Patrick Radden Keefe鈥檚 鈥淓mpire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty鈥� was awarded the 50,000 pound ($67,000) Baillie Gifford Prize during a ceremony at London鈥檚 Science Museum.
Keefe鈥檚 book chronicles the billionaire Sackler clan, owner of Purdue Pharma, whose members used their fortune to fund museums and art galleries around the world. A reckoning has come with the revelation that much of that fortune was based on OxyContin, a powerful prescription painkiller that the company developed in the 1990s and marketed aggressively to doctors.
鈥淓mpire of Pain鈥� traces the rise of the family鈥檚 fortunes under three doctor brothers and their children, and its downfall in a web of lawsuits and bankruptcy proceedings.
Keefe said it was 鈥渁 portrait of three generations of one family behaving very badly, but also on a deeper level a story about systems and about impunity.鈥�
鈥淚 think in some ways it鈥檚 a story about hubris,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n a lot of ways it鈥檚 a story about denial."
Amid protests over its role in the opioid business, the Sackler name has been removed in recent years from wings and galleries at institutions including the Louvre in Paris and the Serpentine Gallery in London. Institutions including Britain鈥檚 National Portrait Gallery and the Tate galleries have stopped taking the family鈥檚 donations due to its role in the opioid crisis, which has been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. alone since 2000.
Some opioid deaths have been attributed to OxyContin and other prescription painkillers, though most are from illicit forms of opioids such as heroin and illegally made fentanyl.
Sackler family members have denied wrongdoing, although their company has pleaded guilty twice to federal crimes over their opioid practices. In September a U.S. 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.
Accepting the prize, Keefe thanked 鈥渁ll of the many lawyers who advised me about what to do with all the incoming mail鈥� when facing threats from the Sackler family during his work on the book.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 a situation where I ever thought about bailing, particularly under pressure from the family,鈥� he told The Associated Press. 鈥淚f anything, some of the pressure that I got persuaded me that I was probably on the right track.鈥�
The Baillie Gifford Prize recognizes English-language books from any country in current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts.
鈥淓mpire of Pain鈥� beat five other finalists: Cal Flyn鈥檚 environmental exploration 鈥淚slands of Abandonment鈥�; Harald J盲hner鈥檚 鈥淎ftermath: Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich, 1945鈥�1955鈥�; Kei Miller鈥檚 essays on discrimination, 鈥淭hings I Have Withheld鈥�; John Preston鈥檚 media mogul biography 鈥淔all: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell鈥�; and Albanian writer Lea Ypi鈥檚 memoir 鈥淔ree: Coming of Age at the End of History.鈥�
Jill Lawless, The Associated Press
