Sackler family

Arthur, Mortimer, and Raymond Sackler, the three children of Galician Jewish immigrants, grew up in Brooklyn in the 1930s. All three siblings went to medical school and worked together at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens. They were often cited as early pioneers in medication techniques that ended the common practice of lobotomies. They were also regarded as the first to fight for the racial integration of blood banks.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/evangerstmann/2019/05/10/harvard-arthur-sackler-and-the-perils-of-indiscriminate-shaming/#72dd5e373746|title=Harvard, Arthur Sackler And The Perils Of Indiscriminate Shaming|last=Gerstmann|first=Evan|date=May 10, 2019|website=Forbes|access-date=September 17, 2019|archive-date=June 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190612062400/https://www.forbes.com/sites/evangerstmann/2019/05/10/harvard-arthur-sackler-and-the-perils-of-indiscriminate-shaming/#72dd5e373746|url-status=live}} Arthur Sackler was widely regarded as the patriarch of the family. In 1952, the brothers bought Purdue-Frederick, a small pharmaceutical company.

Raymond and Mortimer ran Purdue, while Arthur, the oldest brother, pioneered medical advertising. He devised campaigns appealing directly to doctors, and enlisted prominent physicians to endorse Purdue's products.

As one of the foremost art collectors of his generation, he also donated most of his collections to museums around the world. After he died in 1987, his estate sold his option on one-third of Purdue-Frederick to his two brothers, who turned it into Purdue Pharma.

In 1916, researchers Martin Freund and Edmund Speyer first synthesised the opioid oxycodone,M. Freund, E. Speyer: On the conversion of thebaine to oxycodeinone and its derivatives. In: Journal of Practical Chemistry. Vol. 94, No. 1, 1917, pp. 135-178. {{doi|10.1002/prac.19160940112}} which was subsequently marketed as the analgesic Eukodal by Merck & Co..Walther Adolf Roth in Chemiker-Zeitung, Vol. 44, Dr. Alfred Hütig Verlag Heidelberg, 1920 pp. 296. - [http://www.ub.edu/pharmakoteka/node/24864 preparation from 1920] A case of "eucodalism" was first described in 1919, and its symptoms were compared to those of morphine addiction.{{Cite journal |last=Chopra |first=R. N. |last2=Chopra |first2=Gurbaksh Singh |last3=Chopra |first3=I. C. |date=January 1942 |title=A Note on Eucodal Habit in India |url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/34d6/caae585d20bf572ab02d1c6aa1a4db0cda30.pdf |journal=The Indian Medical Gazette |pages=27 |s2cid=38041610 |via=Semantic Scholar}}

File:Watch 8-hour Deposition Of Richard Sackler As He Denies Family's Role in The Opioid Crisis.webm about his family's role in the opioid crisis in the United States.{{Citation|title=Watch 8-hour Deposition Of Richard Sackler As He Denies Family's Role in The Opioid Crisis|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUNrhPUV6Ew|language=en|access-date=2021-12-11|archive-date=December 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211211081002/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUNrhPUV6Ew|url-status=live}}]]

In 1996, Purdue Pharma introduced OxyContin, a reformulated version of oxycodone in a slow-release form. Heavily promoted,{{cite news |author=Meyer |first=Barry |date=May 10, 2007 |title=In Guilty Plea, OxyContin Maker to Pay 600 Million |newspaper=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/10/business/11drug-web.html |url-status=live |accessdate=February 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027035616/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/10/business/11drug-web.html |archive-date=October 27, 2017}} OxyContin is a key drug in the emergence of the opioid epidemic.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/30/the-family-that-built-an-empire-of-pain|title=The Family That Built an Empire of Pain|last=Keefe|first=Patrick Radden|date=October 23, 2017|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=February 21, 2019|issn=0028-792X|archive-date=January 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122073308/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/30/the-family-that-built-an-empire-of-pain|url-status=live}}

Elizabeth Sackler, daughter of Arthur Sackler, claimed that her branch of the family did not participate in or benefit from the sales of narcotics. While some have criticized Arthur Sackler for pioneering marketing techniques to promote non-opioids decades earlier,{{Cite news |last=Keefe |first=Patrick Radden |date=2017-10-23 |title=The Family That Built an Empire of Pain |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/30/the-family-that-built-an-empire-of-pain |access-date=2024-12-13 |work=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}{{Cite web |last=HistPhil |date=2021-04-23 |title=Philanthropy in the Empire of Pain |url=https://histphil.org/2021/04/23/philanthropy-in-the-empire-of-pain/ |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=HistPhil |language=en}} Professor Evan Gerstmann of Loyola Marymount University said in Forbes magazine, "It is an absurd inversion of logic to say that because Arthur Sackler pioneered direct marketing to physicians, he is responsible for the fraudulent misuse of that technique, which occurred many years after his death and from which he procured no financial gain."{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/evangerstmann/2019/05/10/harvard-arthur-sackler-and-the-perils-of-indiscriminate-shaming/#72dd5e373746|title=Forbes|website=Forbes|access-date=September 17, 2019|archive-date=June 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190612062400/https://www.forbes.com/sites/evangerstmann/2019/05/10/harvard-arthur-sackler-and-the-perils-of-indiscriminate-shaming/#72dd5e373746|url-status=live}}{{cite news|date=January 23, 2018|title=Nan Goldin Receives Elizabeth A. Sackler's Support in Condemning Purdue Pharma|publisher=Artforum (artforum.com)|url=https://www.artforum.com/news/nan-goldin-receives-elizabeth-a-sackler-s-support-in-condemning-purdue-pharma-73791|access-date=May 10, 2019|archive-date=May 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510232354/https://www.artforum.com/news/nan-goldin-receives-elizabeth-a-sackler-s-support-in-condemning-purdue-pharma-73791|url-status=live}} and {{cite web|author=Sackler, Elizabeth A.|date=February 1, 2018|accessdate=May 10, 2019|url=https://www.artforum.com/print/201802/growing-p-a-i-n-73656|publisher=Artforum (artforum.com)|title=Growing P.A.I.N.|archive-date=May 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510232200/https://www.artforum.com/print/201802/growing-p-a-i-n-73656|url-status=live}}

In 2018, multiple members of the Raymond and Mortimer Sackler families, Richard Sackler, Theresa Sackler, Kathe Sackler, Jonathan Sackler, Mortimer Sackler, Beverly Sackler, David Sackler, and Ilene Sackler, were all named as defendants in suits filed by numerous states over their involvement in the opioid epidemic in the United States.{{cite news |last1=Dwyer |first1=Colin |title=Massachusetts Sues OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma, Saying It 'Peddled Falsehoods' |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/06/13/619546722/massachusetts-sues-oxycontin-maker-purdue-pharma-saying-it-peddled-falsehoods |website=Npr.org |date=June 13, 2018 |publisher=NPR |accessdate=January 16, 2019 |archive-date=June 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614013610/https://www.npr.org/2018/06/13/619546722/massachusetts-sues-oxycontin-maker-purdue-pharma-saying-it-peddled-falsehoods |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Christine |first1=Willmsen |last2=Martha |first2=Bebinger |title=Massachusetts Attorney General Implicates Family Behind Purdue Pharma In Opioid Deaths |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/01/16/685692474/massachusetts-attorney-general-implicates-family-behind-purdue-pharma-in-opioid- |website=Npr.org |date=January 16, 2019 |publisher=NPR |access-date=September 11, 2019 |archive-date=January 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116153756/https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/01/16/685692474/massachusetts-attorney-general-implicates-family-behind-purdue-pharma-in-opioid- |url-status=live }}

In 2012, a member of the Sackler family bought Stargroves, a manor house near Newbury in the United Kingdom, for more than its £15 million listing price; former owners at different times of the estate have been Mick Jagger and Rod Stewart.{{cite web | url= http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/style/homes_and_gardens/moving_on/article1105274.ece | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140513022105/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/style/homes_and_gardens/moving_on/article1105274.ece | url-status= dead | archive-date= 13 May 2014 | title= Moving on: Jagger edge | work=The Sunday Times | author=Anna Mikhailova | date=19 August 2012 | access-date=16 February 2017}}{{cite web | url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexmorrell/2015/07/01/the-oxycontin-clan-the-14-billion-newcomer-to-forbes-2015-list-of-richest-u-s-families/ | title=The OxyContin Clan: The $14 Billion Newcomer to Forbes 2015 List of Richest U.S. Families | work=Forbes | author=Alex Morrell | date=1 July 2015 | access-date=16 February 2017 | archive-date=February 22, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190222042122/https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexmorrell/2015/07/01/the-oxycontin-clan-the-14-billion-newcomer-to-forbes-2015-list-of-richest-u-s-families/ | url-status=live }}

The family was first listed in Forbes list of America's Richest Families in 2015.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexmorrell/2015/07/01/the-oxycontin-clan-the-14-billion-newcomer-to-forbes-2015-list-of-richest-u-s-families/#2c814b4a75e0 |author=Alex Morrell |title=The OxyContin Clan: The $14 Billion Newcomer to Forbes 2015 List of Richest U.S. Families |magazine=Forbes |date=July 1, 2015 |accessdate=February 21, 2019 |archive-date=February 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190222042122/https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexmorrell/2015/07/01/the-oxycontin-clan-the-14-billion-newcomer-to-forbes-2015-list-of-richest-u-s-families/#2c814b4a75e0 |url-status=live }}

The Sackler family also owns Mundipharma, a lower-profile pharma company with significant operations in China. Bloomberg News reported in 2020 that the family had hired an investment bank to identify a potential buyer of the business.{{Cite web|last=Baigorri|first=Manuel|date=January 13, 2020|title=Sackler-Owned Mundipharma Taps Deutsche Bank for Sale|website=Bloomberg News|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-13/sackler-owned-mundipharma-is-said-to-tap-deutsche-bank-for-sale|url-status=live|access-date=May 17, 2021|archive-date=May 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517180338/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-13/sackler-owned-mundipharma-is-said-to-tap-deutsche-bank-for-sale}} The company could fetch as much as $3 to $5 billion.

{{Tree list}}

• Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg
• {{Tree list/final branch}}Arthur M. Sackler, (1913–1987),{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/27/obituaries/dr-arthur-sackler-dies-at-73-philanthropist-and-art-patron.html|title=Dr. Arthur Sackler Dies at 73; Philanthropist and Art Patron|last=Glueck|first=Grace|author-link=Grace Glueck|date=May 27, 1987|newspaper=The New York Times|accessdate=May 11, 2014|archive-date=December 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218200351/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/27/obituaries/dr-arthur-sackler-dies-at-73-philanthropist-and-art-patron.html|url-status=live}} married Else Finnich Jorgensen in 1934 and divorced,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/17/classified/paid-notice-deaths-sackler-else.html|title=Paid Notice: Deaths SACKLER, ELSE|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 17, 2000|access-date=February 21, 2019|archive-date=March 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330170324/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/17/classified/paid-notice-deaths-sackler-else.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/13/meet-the-sacklers-the-family-feuding-over-blame-for-the-opioid-crisis|author=Joanna Walters|title=Meet the Sacklers: the family feuding over blame for the opioid crisis|newspaper=The Guardian|date=February 18, 2018|accessdate=February 19, 2019|archive-date=April 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200404075502/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/13/meet-the-sacklers-the-family-feuding-over-blame-for-the-opioid-crisis|url-status=live}} married Marietta Lutze in 1949 and divorced, and Jillian Lesley Tully in 1981 until death
• {{Tree list/final branch}} Marriage to Else Finnich Jorgensen:
• Carol Master (b. 1941)
• Elizabeth Sackler (b. 1948)
• {{Tree list/final branch}} Michael Sackler-Berner (b. 1983)
• Marriage to Marietta Lutze
• Arthur Felix Sackler (b. 1950)
• Denise Marika (b. 1955)
• Mortimer Sackler (1916–2010) obtained British citizenship and renounced American citizenship.{{cite news |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/the-sackler-files-billionaire-likes-to-parade-as-philanthropist-in-fact-he-was-tax-avoider-on-a3836371.html |author=David Cohen |title=The Sackler Files: Billionaire liked to parade as philanthropist... in fact he was tax avoider on industrial scale |newspaper=Evening Standard |date=May 11, 2018 |accessdate=February 22, 2019 |archive-date=March 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329172800/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/the-sackler-files-billionaire-likes-to-parade-as-philanthropist-in-fact-he-was-tax-avoider-on-a3836371.html |url-status=live }} Married Muriel Lazarus (1917–2009) and divorced, https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=muriel-l-sackler&pid=134166073 Muriel L. Sackler ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329183756/https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=muriel-l-sackler&pid=134166073 |date=March 29, 2019 }}, NYT obituary married Gertraud (Gheri) Wimmer in 1969 and divorced,{{Cite web|url=http://sortedbyname.com/pages/s100795.html|title=SACHS, FRANK thru SACHS, GEORGE|website=sortedbyname.com|access-date=February 23, 2019|archive-date=February 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190223184815/http://sortedbyname.com/pages/s100795.html|url-status=live}} and married Theresa Elizabeth Rowling (b. 1949) in 1980 until his death.
• Marriage to Muriel Lazarus:
• Ilene Sackler Lefcourt (b. 1946) (married Gerald B. Lefcourt and divorced)
• Kathe Sackler (b. 1948) (married Susan Shack Sackler)
• Robert Mortimer Sackler (1951–1975)
• Marriage to Gertrude Wimmer:
• Mortimer A. Sackler (b. 1971) (married Jaqueline Sackler)
• Samantha Sophia Sackler Hunt (b. 1968)
• Marriage to Theresa Rowling:
• Marissa Sackler
• Sophie Sackler (married Jamie Dalrymple)
• Michael Sackler
• Raymond Sackler (1920–2017), married Beverly Feldman in 1944 until death Beverly died in October 2019, aged 95{{Cite web|url=https://www.nhregister.com/business/article/Purdue-Pharma-co-owner-and-Greenwichite-Beverly-14536354.php|title=Purdue Pharma co-owner and Greenwich resident Beverly Sackler dies|first=Paul|last=Schott|date=October 15, 2019|website=New Haven Register|access-date=October 16, 2019|archive-date=October 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191015235613/https://www.nhregister.com/business/article/Purdue-Pharma-co-owner-and-Greenwichite-Beverly-14536354.php|url-status=live}}
• Richard Sackler, born 1945, married Beth Sackler and divorced.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a12775932/sackler-family-oxycontin/|author=Christopher Glazek|title=The Secretive Family Making Billions From the Opioid Crisis|magazine=Esquire|date=October 16, 2017|accessdate=February 21, 2019|archive-date=September 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190920060840/https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a12775932/sackler-family-oxycontin/|url-status=live}}
• {{Tree list/final branch}} David Sackler (married Joss Ruggles)
• Marianna Sackler (married James Frame)
• Jonathan Sackler (1955–2020)
• Clare Sackler
• Madeleine Sackler, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker
• Miles Sackler

{{Tree list/end}}

{{further|List of things named after the Sackler family}}

The Sackler family has donated to cultural institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Guggenheim.{{cite web |last1=Goukassian |first1=Elena |title=Our Incomplete List of Cultural Institutions and Initiatives Funded by the Sackler Family |url=https://hyperallergic.com/419850/our-incomplete-list-of-cultural-institutions-and-initiatives-funded-by-the-sackler-family/ |website=Hyperallergic |date=January 11, 2018 |accessdate=March 26, 2019 |archive-date=March 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327090503/https://hyperallergic.com/419850/our-incomplete-list-of-cultural-institutions-and-initiatives-funded-by-the-sackler-family/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=https://thejewishmuseum.org/support/annual-campaigns/annual-campaign-2016|title=Annual Campaign 2016|accessdate=May 10, 2019|publisher=The Jewish Museum|archive-date=December 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220085328/https://thejewishmuseum.org/support/annual-campaigns/annual-campaign-2016|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://bletchleypark.org.uk/our-supporters/|title=List of Bletchley Park Supporters including Dr Mortimer and Theresa Sackler Foundation|website=Bletchley Park Trust (Museum)|accessdate=November 14, 2021|archive-date=November 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114175423/https://bletchleypark.org.uk/our-supporters/|url-status=live}}

The family has also donated to universities, including Harvard University, Yale University, Cornell University, and the University of Oxford, although the latter severed ties in 2023.{{cite web |title=The University of Oxford's relationship with the Sackler family – statement |url=https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/about/media/university-oxford-relationship-sackler-family-statement |access-date=18 May 2023}}{{Cite web|date=October 3, 2019|title=Cornell Received Millions From Scandal-Ridden Sackler Family — But the University Says It Won't Accept More|url=https://cornellsun.com/2019/10/03/cornell-received-millions-from-scandal-ridden-sackler-family-but-the-university-says-it-wont-accept-more/|access-date=October 27, 2021|website=The Cornell Daily Sun|language=en-US|archive-date=October 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027000630/https://cornellsun.com/2019/10/03/cornell-received-millions-from-scandal-ridden-sackler-family-but-the-university-says-it-wont-accept-more/|url-status=live}} The Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University is named after Arthur, Mortimer, and Raymond Sackler for their donations but the name was removed in June 2023. Similarly, the Sackler Institute of Pulmonary Pharmacology at King's College London was named after Mortimer and Theresa Sackler.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kcl.ac.uk/newsevents/news/news-archive/2002/feb/New-Sackler-Institute-of-Pharmaceutical-Sciences.aspx|title=New Sackler Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences|date=February 13, 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002011843/https://www.kcl.ac.uk/newsevents/news/news-archive/2002/feb/New-Sackler-Institute-of-Pharmaceutical-Sciences.aspx|archive-date=October 2, 2015|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/the-opioid-timebomb-the-sackler-family-and-how-their-painkiller-fortune-helps-bankroll-london-arts-a3793651.html|title=The Opioid Timebomb: The Sackler family and how their painkiller fortune helps bankroll London arts|accessdate=May 10, 2019|date=March 19, 2018|author=Cohen, David|newspaper=Evening Standard|archive-date=June 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618135612/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/the-opioid-timebomb-the-sackler-family-and-how-their-painkiller-fortune-helps-bankroll-london-arts-a3793651.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://sackler.yale.edu/|title=Raymond and Beverly Sackler Institute for Biological, Physical and Engineering Sciences|publisher=Yale University|access-date=May 24, 2022|archive-date=May 25, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525203940/https://sackler.yale.edu/|url-status=live}}

The Sackler family has previously donated to the China International Culture Exchange Center (CICEC), a front organization of China's principal civilian intelligence agency, the Ministry of State Security.{{Cite book |last=Joske |first=Alex |title=Spies and Lies: How China's Greatest Covert Operations Fooled the World |date=2022 |publisher=Hardie Grant Books |isbn=978-1-74358-900-7 |pages=80 |chapter= |oclc=1347020692 |author-link=Alex Joske}}{{Cite web |date=September 10, 2009 |title=第七届国际文化交流赛克勒杯中国书法竞赛获奖名单 |url=http://www.cicec.org.cn/whys/2015/0302/314.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717022813/www.cicec.org.cn/whys/2015/0302/314.html |archive-date=July 17, 2019 |access-date=2022-10-22 |website=China International Culture Exchange Center |language=zh}}

The Sackler family contributed about $116,000 to the Democratic Party of Connecticut.{{Cite web |url=https://apnews.com/article/76e5f20d598e4cab956dd260b1df6931 |title=CT Democratic Party received $116,000 from Sacklers |website=Associated Press |date=January 29, 2019 |access-date=January 30, 2023 |archive-date=January 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230130180811/https://apnews.com/article/76e5f20d598e4cab956dd260b1df6931 |url-status=live }}

{{further|Reputation laundering}}

The Sackler family name, as used in institutions which the family have donated to, saw increased scrutiny in the late 2010s over the family's association with OxyContin. David Crow, writing in the Financial Times, described the family name as "tainted" (cf. Tainted donors).{{cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/46ff5632-b1bd-11e8-99ca-68cf89602132 |author=David Crow |title=What next for the Sacklers? A pharma dynasty under siege |newspaper=Financial Times |date=September 8, 2018 |accessdate=February 24, 2019 |archive-date=March 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327161404/https://www.ft.com/content/46ff5632-b1bd-11e8-99ca-68cf89602132 |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=https://www.propublica.org/article/richard-sackler-oxycontin-oxycodone-strength-conceal-from-doctors-sealed-testimony|author=David Armstrong|title=Sackler Embraced Plan to Conceal OxyContin's Strength From Doctors, Sealed Testimony Shows|publisher=ProPublica|date=February 21, 2019|accessdate=February 27, 2019|archive-date=February 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226183307/https://www.propublica.org/article/richard-sackler-oxycontin-oxycodone-strength-conceal-from-doctors-sealed-testimony|url-status=live}} In March 2019, the National Portrait Gallery and the Tate galleries announced that they would not accept further donations from the family. This came after the American photographer Nan Goldin threatened to withdraw a planned retrospective of her work in the National Portrait Gallery if the gallery accepted a £1 million donation from a Sackler fund.{{cite news |title=Tate art galleries will no longer accept donations from the Sackler family |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/mar/21/tate-art-galleries-will-no-longer-accept-donations-from-the-sackler-family |accessdate=March 22, 2019 |newspaper=Guardian |date=March 22, 2019 |archive-date=March 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322064850/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/mar/21/tate-art-galleries-will-no-longer-accept-donations-from-the-sackler-family |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Walters |first1=Joanna |title=Nan Goldin threatens London gallery boycott over £1m gift from Sackler fund |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/feb/16/nan-goldin-sackler-gift-oxycontin-national-portrait-gallery |accessdate=March 23, 2019 |newspaper=The Guardian |archive-date=March 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323041149/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/feb/16/nan-goldin-sackler-gift-oxycontin-national-portrait-gallery |url-status=live }} In June 2019, NYU Langone Medical Center announced they will no longer be accepting donations from the Sacklers, and have since changed the name of the Sackler Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences to the Vilcek Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences.{{cite web |last1=Youn |first1=Soo |title=NYU Langone no longer accepting donations from the Sacklers, the family that owns OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/nyu-langone-longer-accepting-donations-sacklers-family-owns/story?id=63502900 |website=ABC News |accessdate=December 19, 2019 |archive-date=December 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224234920/https://abcnews.go.com/US/nyu-langone-longer-accepting-donations-sacklers-family-owns/story?id=63502900 |url-status=live }} Later in 2019, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, each announced they will not accept future donations from any Sacklers that were involved in Purdue Pharma.{{cite news|author=Harris, Elizabeth A.|date=May 15, 2019|accessdate=May 17, 2019|title=The Met Will Turn Down Sackler Money Amid Fury Over the Opioid Crisis|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/15/arts/design/met-museum-sackler-opioids.html|newspaper=The New York Times|archive-date=May 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190516203545/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/15/arts/design/met-museum-sackler-opioids.html|url-status=live}}

On July 1, 2019, Nan Goldin, an American photographer and the founder of P.A.I.N.,{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/jan/22/nan-goldin-interview-us-opioid-epidemic-heroin-addict-oxycontin-sackler-family|title='I don't know how they live with themselves' – artist Nan Goldin takes on the billionaire family behind OxyContin|last=Walters|first=Joanna|date=January 22, 2018|website=The Guardian|access-date=January 22, 2018|archive-date=January 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122071011/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/jan/22/nan-goldin-interview-us-opioid-epidemic-heroin-addict-oxycontin-sackler-family|url-status=live}} led a small group of protesters who unfurled a banner "Take down the Sackler name" against the backdrop of the Louvre's glass pyramid.{{cite news|first1=Joanna|last1=Walters|accessdate=March 24, 2019|title=Tate art galleries will no longer accept donations from the Sackler family|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/mar/21/tate-art-galleries-will-no-longer-accept-donations-from-the-sackler-family|newspaper=The Guardian|date=March 22, 2019|issn=0261-3077|via=www.theguardian.com|archive-date=March 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323233908/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/mar/21/tate-art-galleries-will-no-longer-accept-donations-from-the-sackler-family|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.artforum.com/inprint/issue=201801&id=73181|title=Nan Goldin|last=Goldin|first=Nan|work=Art Forum|access-date=January 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103074116/https://www.artforum.com/inprint/issue%3D201801%26id%3D73181|archive-date=January 3, 2018|url-status=dead|language=en-US}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/feb/16/nan-goldin-sackler-gift-oxycontin-national-portrait-gallery|title=Nan Goldin threatens London gallery boycott over £1m gift from Sackler fund|work=The Guardian|last1=Walters|first1=Joanna|last2=Thorpe|first2=Vanessa|date=February 17, 2019|access-date=February 17, 2019|archive-date=February 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190217003840/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/feb/16/nan-goldin-sackler-gift-oxycontin-national-portrait-gallery|url-status=live}}In 2018, Goldin went public with her [https://web.archive.org/web/20180103074116/https://www.artforum.com/inprint/issue%3D201801%26id%3D73181 rehabilitation process] to overcome her [https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/jan/22/nan-goldin-interview-us-opioid-epidemic-heroin-addict-oxycontin-sackler-family opioid addiction] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190305232349/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/jan/22/nan-goldin-interview-us-opioid-epidemic-heroin-addict-oxycontin-sackler-family |date=March 5, 2019 }}. Goldin was [https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/jan/22/nan-goldin-interview-us-opioid-epidemic-heroin-addict-oxycontin-sackler-family prescribed] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190305232349/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/jan/22/nan-goldin-interview-us-opioid-epidemic-heroin-addict-oxycontin-sackler-family |date=March 5, 2019 }} OxyContin after breaking her wrist. Goldin established Prescription Addiction Intervention Now (P.A.I.N.) through which she used social media activism to [https://www.artforum.com/inprint/issue=201801&id=73181 contrast the Sackler family's cultural philanthropy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103074116/https://www.artforum.com/inprint/issue%3D201801%26id%3D73181 |date=January 3, 2018 }} with their role in inflaming the opioid crisis as owners and managers of Purdue Pharma who manufactured and marketed OxyContin. P.A.I.N. also protested that the Sackler family have never taken responsibility for their role in the opioid crisis. Previous P.A.I.N protests took place in Sackler Wing's Temple of Dendur at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2018, at the Guggenheim Museum in 2019. In February 2019, Goldin issued a statement saying she no longer would participate in the planned retrospective of her photography, which was to be exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in London if the Tate did not refuse the Sacklers most recent donation of £1 million.

According to The New York Times, the Louvre in Paris was the first major museum to "erase its public association" with the Sackler family name. On July 16, 2019, the museum had removed the plaque at the gallery entrance about Sacklers’ donations made to the museum. Throughout the gallery, grey tape covered signs such as Sackler Wing, including signage for the Louvre's Persian and Levantine artifacts collection, which was removed on July 8 or 9. Signage for the collection had identified it as the Sackler Wing of Oriental Antiquities since 1997.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/17/arts/design/sackler-family-louvre.html|title=Louvre Removes Sackler Family Name From Its Walls|last=Marshall|first=Alex|date=July 17, 2019|work=The New York Times|access-date=July 17, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717141305/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/17/arts/design/sackler-family-louvre.html|url-status=live}}

The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced it would remove the Sackler name from galleries and other locations within the museum in December 2021.{{cite news |last1=Alexander |first1=Sophie |title=NYC's Met Pulls Sackler Name From Galleries After Opioid Scandal |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-09/new-york-s-met-museum-removes-sackler-name-from-galleries?srnd=premium&sref=CIpmV6x8 |access-date=10 December 2021 |work=Bloomberg |date=9 December 2021 |archive-date=December 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211210183641/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-09/new-york-s-met-museum-removes-sackler-name-from-galleries?srnd=premium&sref=CIpmV6x8 |url-status=live }} This was followed by the Bodleian Library's "Sackler Library", which has since been renamed the Bodleian Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library.{{Cite web |date=2023-05-15 |title=Sackler: relationship review |url=https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/news/2023-05-15-sackler-relationship-review |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=University of Oxford |language=en}}

The family's philanthropy has been characterized as reputation laundering from profits acquired from the selling of opiates.{{cite web|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/30/the-family-that-built-an-empire-of-pain|title=New Yorker Sackler Article|date=October 23, 2017|publisher=newyorker.com|accessdate=October 17, 2018|archive-date=January 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122073308/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/30/the-family-that-built-an-empire-of-pain|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/16/sackler-family-blood-money-disgrace-museums|title=Sackler Blood Money disgraces museums|date=February 16, 2018|publisher=theguardian.com|accessdate=October 17, 2018|archive-date=October 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017203226/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/16/sackler-family-blood-money-disgrace-museums|url-status=live}} In 2022, the British Museum announced that it would rename the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Rooms and the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Wing, as part of "development of the new masterplan", and that it "made this decision together through collaborative discussions" with the Sackler Foundation.{{cite web |last1=Cascone |first1=Sarah |title=The British Museum Drops the Sackler Name From Its Galleries, Joining a Growing Flood of Institutions Cutting Ties With the Family |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/british-museum-ditches-the-sackler-name-2090153 |website=Artnet News |access-date=25 March 2022 |date=25 March 2022 |archive-date=March 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220325220643/https://news.artnet.com/art-world/british-museum-ditches-the-sackler-name-2090153 |url-status=live }}

In 2019, a suit was brought in the Southern District of New York, which included more than 500 counties, cities and Native American tribes. It named eight family members: Richard, Jonathan, Mortimer, Kathe, David, Beverly and Theresa Sackler as well as Ilene Sackler Lefcourt.[https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/28/health/new-york-lawsuit-opioids-sacklers-distributors.html "New York Sues Sackler Family Members and Drug Distributors"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406040637/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/28/health/new-york-lawsuit-opioids-sacklers-distributors.html |date=April 6, 2019 }}, New York Times, March 28, 2019. In addition, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Utah all brought suits against the family. On the federal level, the family faced an overall bundle of 1,600 cases.[https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/01/health/sacklers-oxycontin-lawsuits.html "Lawsuits Lay Bare Sackler Family's Role in Opioid Crisis"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404093404/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/01/health/sacklers-oxycontin-lawsuits.html |date=April 4, 2019 }}, New York Times, April 1, 2019.

According to the New Yorker, Purdue Pharma played a "special role" in the opioid crisis because the company "was the first to set out, in the nineteen-nineties, to persuade the American medical establishment that strong opioids should be much more widely prescribed—and that physicians’ longstanding fears about the addictive nature of such drugs were overblown."{{Cite magazine|last=Keefe|first=Patrick Radden|title=The Sackler Family's Plan to Keep Its Billions|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-sackler-familys-plan-to-keep-its-billions|access-date=October 4, 2020|magazine=The New Yorker|date=October 4, 2020|language=en-us|archive-date=October 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004103052/https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-sackler-familys-plan-to-keep-its-billions|url-status=live}}

In late 2020, the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the US House of Representatives held a hearing on the role of Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family in the opioid epidemic. "We don't agree on a lot on this committee, in a bipartisan way," the ranking member, James Comer of Kentucky said, "but I think our opinion of Purdue Pharma and the actions of your family...are sickening." The Sacklers were also accused of being "addicted to money." Of the Sacklers responses in the hearing, author Patrick Radden Keefe stated "They could produce a rehearsed simulacrum of human empathy" but were "impervious to any genuine moral epiphany." Jim Cooper, a congressman from Tennessee, stated to David Sackler: "Watching you testify makes my blood boil. I am not sure I am aware of any family in America that's more evil than yours." Of the Sacklers' wealth and Richard Sackler's in particular, Keefe states: "No one wanted his money."{{Cite book|last=Keefe|first= Patrick Radden|title=Empire of pain : the secret history of the Sackler dynasty|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1252970608|isbn=978-1-0395-0147-8|oclc=1252970608|access-date=2021-12-17}}

In March 2021, Purdue Pharma filed a restructuring plan to dissolve itself and establish a new company dedicated to programs designed to combat the opioid crisis.{{Cite web|last=Maruf|first=Laura Ly and Ramishah|date=March 16, 2021|title=Sackler family agrees to pay US$4.2 billion as part of plan to dissolve OxyContin maker Purdue|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/sackler-family-agrees-to-pay-us-4-2-billion-as-part-of-plan-to-dissolve-oxycontin-maker-purdue-1.5349348|access-date=March 16, 2021|website=CTVNews|language=en|archive-date=March 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316172752/https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/sackler-family-agrees-to-pay-us-4-2-billion-as-part-of-plan-to-dissolve-oxycontin-maker-purdue-1.5349348|url-status=live}} The proposal was for the Sackler family to pay an additional US$4.2 billion over the next nine years to resolve various civil claims in exchange for immunity from criminal prosecutions. This "legal firewall" was opposed by 24 state attorneys-general, as well as the attorney-general for Washington, D.C. "If the Sacklers are allowed to use bankruptcy to escape the consequences of their actions," said the state AGs who called the proposal legally unprecedented, "it would be a roadmap for other powerful bad actors."{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/05/03/991648432/25-states-mount-legal-fight-to-block-sackler-bid-for-opioid-immunity |title=24 States Mount Legal Fight To Block Sackler Bid For Opioid Immunity |work=NPR |author=Brian Mann |date=May 3, 2021 |accessdate=May 7, 2021 |archive-date=May 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507025209/https://www.npr.org/2021/05/03/991648432/25-states-mount-legal-fight-to-block-sackler-bid-for-opioid-immunity |url-status=live }}

In a bankruptcy court filing on July 7, 2021, multiple states agreed to settle. Though Purdue admitted no wrongdoings, the Sacklers would agree never to produce opioids again and pay billions in damages toward a charitable fund.{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/multiple-states-agree-4-5b-deal-sackler-family-purdue-pharma-n1273349 |title=Multiple states agree to $4.5B deal with Sackler family in Purdue Pharma opioid lawsuit |work=CBS |date=July 8, 2021 |accessdate=August 16, 2021 |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816115032/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/multiple-states-agree-4-5b-deal-sackler-family-purdue-pharma-n1273349 |url-status=live }} Purdue Pharma was dissolved on September 1, 2021. The Sacklers agreed to pay $4.5 billion over nine years, with most of that money funding addiction treatment. The bankruptcy judge Robert Drain{{cite web |access-date=2024-06-29 |title=Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family reach $6 billion OxyContin settlement : NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/03/03/1084163626/purdue-sacklers-oxycontin-settlement |website=npr.org}} acknowledged that the Sacklers had moved money to offshore accounts to protect it from claims, and he said he wished the settlement had been higher.{{Cite news|last=Hoffman|first=Jan|date=2021-09-01|title=Purdue Pharma Is Dissolved and Sacklers Pay $4.5 Billion to Settle Opioid Claims|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/01/health/purdue-sacklers-opioids-settlement.html|access-date=2021-12-17|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=December 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217114334/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/01/health/purdue-sacklers-opioids-settlement.html|url-status=live}}

On December 16, 2021, U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon ruled that the bankruptcy judge did not have authority to give the Sacklers immunity in civil liability cases.{{Cite news|last=Hoffman|first=Jan|date=16 December 2021|title=Judge Overturns Purdue Pharma's Opioid Settlement|work=New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/16/health/purdue-pharma-opioid-settlement.html|access-date=17 December 2021|archive-date=December 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217102916/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/16/health/purdue-pharma-opioid-settlement.html|url-status=live}} This ruling was overturned on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/purdue-pharma-opioids-settlements-sackler-family-protection-ruling-clears-way/|title=Ruling clears way for Purdue Pharma to settle opioid claims, protects Sacklers from lawsuits|website=CBS News|date=May 31, 2023}} This ruling was stayed in August 2023 by the U.S. Supreme Court pending oral argument in December 2023.{{cite web |last1=Howe |first1=Amy |title=Justices put Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan on hold |url=https://www.scotusblog.com/2023/08/justices-put-purdue-pharma-bankruptcy-plan-on-hold/ |website=SCOTUSblog |access-date=17 September 2023 |date=10 August 2023}} On June 27, 2024, in its decision Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P., the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the settlement in a 5–4 decision.{{Cite web |last=Mole |first=Beth |date=2024-06-27 |title=SCOTUS tears down Sacklers’ immunity, blowing up opioid settlement |url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/06/opioid-settlement-toppled-as-scotus-rejects-sacklers-immunity-in-5-4-ruling/ |access-date=2024-06-28 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us}} On January 23, 2025, the Sackler family and Purdue settled the lawsuit they faced, in a $7.4bn deal with states and individuals. The Family agreed to pay $6.5bn over 15 years, while Purdue agreed on $900mn in settlements. {{Cite news|last=Pollard|first=Amelia|date=24 January 2025|title=Purdue agrees opioid crisis settlement|work=Financial Times|url=https://ft.pressreader.com/1389/20250124/281663965680298|access-date=26 January 2025}}

{{reflist|30}}

• {{cite book |title=Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty |year=2021 |author=Patrick Radden Keefe |publisher=Doubleday |isbn=978-0385545686}}

• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaCaIhfETsM John Oliver's segment on the Sackler family in August 2021] archived in [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/uaCaIhfETsM Ghostarchive.org] on 24 April 2022

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Category:Opioid epidemic in the United States

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Category:Wealth in the United States

Category:Organized crime in the United States