L'imperi del dolor

The last name Sackler adorns the walls of the most distinguished institutions: Harvard, the Metropolitan, Oxford, the Louvre... It is one of the richest families in the world, benefactor of the arts and sciences. The origin of their heritage was always dubious, until it came to light that they had multiplied it thanks to OxyContin, a powerful pain reliever that catalyzed the opioid crisis in the United States. The empire of pain begins in the Great Depression, with the story of three brothers dedicated to medicine: Raymond, Mortimer and the indefatigable Arthur Sackler, gifted with a special vision for advertising and marketing. Years later, he contributed to the first family fortune by devising the business strategy of Valium, a revolutionary tranquilizer, for a large pharmaceutical company.