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Book About Sackler Family And Opioid Crisis Wins UK Prize

Author Patrick Radden Keefe testifies before a House Oversight Committee hearing on legislation inspired by the bankruptcy case of Purdue Pharma and the members of the wealthy Sackler family that own it, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, June 8, 2021, in Washington. Keefe's book, “Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty,” about a wealthy American family whose actions helped unleash the United States’ opioid epidemic, won Britain’s leading nonfiction book prize Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
Author Patrick Radden Keefe testifies before a House Oversight Committee hearing on legislation inspired by the bankruptcy case of Purdue Pharma and the members of the wealthy Sackler family that own it, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, June 8, 2021, in Washington. Keefe's book, “Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty,” about a wealthy American family whose actions helped unleash the United States’ opioid epidemic, won Britain’s leading nonfiction book prize Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (JILL LAWLESS)
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London (AP) -- A book about a wealthy American family whose actions helped unleash the United States’ opioid epidemic — described by its author as a “story of hubris” — won Britain’s leading nonfiction book prize Tuesday.

Patrick Radden Keefe’s “Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty” was awarded the 50,000 pound ($67,000) Baillie Gifford Prize during a ceremony at London’s Science Museum.