The most recommended books about the opioid crisis

Who picked these books? Meet our 11 experts.

11 authors created a book list connected to the opioid crisis, and here are their favorite opioid crisis books.
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Book cover of Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty

Benjamin Breen Author Of Tripping on Utopia: Margaret Mead, the Cold War, and the Troubled Birth of Psychedelic Science

From my list on the history of drugs.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a historian of science and medicine, Iā€™m fascinated by the many ways that drugsā€”from tea to opiates, Prozac to psychedelicsā€”have shaped our world. After all, there are few adults on the planet today who donā€™t regularly consume substances that have been classified as a drug at one time or another (Iā€™m looking at you, coffee and tea!). The books Iā€™ve selected here have deeply influenced my own thinking on the history of drugs over the past decade, from my first book, The Age of Intoxication, to my new book on the history of psychedelic science.

Benjamin's book list on the history of drugs

Benjamin Breen Why did Benjamin love this book?

In this tour-de-force work of investigative journalism, New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe traces the sordid history of the Sackler dynasty, the billionaire family behind Purdue Pharmaceuticals and its blockbuster narcotic painkiller OxyContin.

With both narrative verve and moral urgencyā€”a combination that isnā€™t always easy to pull offā€”this book exposes one of the many points of origin for Americaā€™s devastating opioid epidemic. Keefeā€™s work has reinforced my conviction that drug historians have an important role to play in shaping public understanding and policy debates around these substances in the present. I found this book to be a page-turner and one of the most thoughtful books Iā€™ve read in years.  

By Patrick Radden Keefe,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked Empire of Pain as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ā€¢ A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR ā€¢ A grand, devastating portrait of three generations of the Sackler family, famed for their philanthropy, whose fortune was built by Valium and whose reputation was destroyed by OxyContin. From the prize-winning and bestselling author of Say Nothing.

"A real-life version of the HBO series Succession with a lethal sting in its tailā€¦a masterful work of narrative reportage.ā€ ā€“ Laura Miller, Slate

The history of the Sackler dynasty is rife with dramaā€”baroque personal lives; bitter disputes over estates; fistfights in boardrooms; glittering art collections; Machiavellian courtroomā€¦


Book cover of Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America

Julie Salamon Author Of Unlikely Friends

From Julie's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Reader Adventurer Do-gooder History buff

Julie's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Julie Salamon Why did Julie love this book?

Itā€™s hard to say I love this book because it is not an easy book to readā€”even though I read it compulsively.

Beth Macy is a great journalist who spent years covering the opioid crisis as it was developing. It is tricky to turn social ills into narratives in non-fiction, but Macy doesnā€™t use cheap tricks to grab her readers by the throat.

Her research and compassionā€”and well-placed angerā€”drive this investigation of a terrible epidemic driven by greed. Yet Macy paints with a nuanced brush, delving into the complexity of modern life that paved the way for this heartbreaking and horrifying scourge.

By Beth Macy,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Dopesick as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Journalist Beth Macy's definitive account of America's opioid epidemic "masterfully interlaces stories of communities in crisis with dark histories of corporate greed and regulatory indifference" (New York Times) -- from the boardroom to the courtroom and into the living rooms of Americans.
In this extraordinary work, Beth Macy takes us into the epicenter of a national drama that has unfolded over two decades. From the labs and marketing departments of big pharma to local doctor's offices; wealthy suburbs to distressed small communities in Central Appalachia; from distant cities to once-idyllic farm towns; the spread of opioid addiction follows a tortuousā€¦


Book cover of Pharma: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America

Mikkael A. Sekeres Author Of Drugs and the FDA: Safety, Efficacy, and the Public's Trust

From my list on the good, bad, beautiful, and ugly in medicine.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a cancer doctor, I have spent two decades dedicated to understanding the causes and therapy of cancer, how my patients experience their diagnosis and treatment, and how meaningful improvements in their experience should be reflected in the criteria we use to approve cancer drugs approval in the U.S., to improve their lives. In over 100 essays published in outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post and in two books, I sing the stories of my patients as I learn from their undaunted spirits and their utter humanity, as I try to figure out how to be a better doctor, and a better person.

Mikkael's book list on the good, bad, beautiful, and ugly in medicine

Mikkael A. Sekeres Why did Mikkael love this book?

Thereā€™s a seedy side to the pharmaceutical industry that started well before the creation of the FDA, and continues through the modern era, fueling the epidemic of opioid drug dependency.

In Pharma, Posnerā€™s comprehensive reporting introduces us to brilliant scientists, incorruptible government regulators, and brave whistleblowers facing off against company executives often blinded by greed.

We learn how the Sacklers built a culture of pain relief on the shoulders of oxycontin ā€“ one that ultimately led to the lowest survival rates for Americans in a century.

By Gerald Posner,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Pharma as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author Gerald Posner traces the heroes and villains of the trillion-dollar-a-year pharmaceutical industry and uncovers how those once entrusted with improving life have often betrayed that ideal to corruption and reckless profiteering-with deadly consequences.

Pharmaceutical breakthroughs such as anti biotics and vaccines rank among some of the greatest advancements in human history. Yet exorbitant prices for life-saving drugs, safety recalls affecting tens of millions of Americans, and soaring rates of addiction and overdose on pre scription opioids have caused many to lose faith in drug companies. Now, Americans are demanding a national reckoningā€¦


Book cover of Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
Book cover of Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America
Book cover of Pharma: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America

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