Let's move onto our second story now which concerns drugs. You know about drugs and the numerous PSA's that encompass them about the dangers around them. But I don't want to talk about the type of drugs that are illegal like cannabis. Instead, I'm going to talk about legal drugs: opioids. Roughly 10 million people get addicted each year to prescription painkillers, drugs like Percocet, Vicodin, and Kadian. More than 760,000 people have died from opioid overdoses since 2000 and the number keeps climbing, which leads one to wonder how on earth this started and has gotten out of hand so horrifically. Well, the answer it turns out can be traced back to 1996 to a Connecticut-based company, a company that is so infamous and hated that the family behind it was, and still is, one of the richest families in America. This company is Purdue Pharma L.P. They are owned by the Sackler family. The Sacklers have over decades evaded public scrutiny over their alleged rollout of their company's blockbuster painkiller: OxyContin. But that is all is in the midst of change. So, with thousands dying every week from opioids and ongoing lawsuits against the Sacklers and an ongoing bankruptcy plan that will relinquish Sackler ownership, I thought it was important to answer 3 major questions: who are the Sacklers, what exactly they are guilty of, and what happens next. 

So, let us start with a simple question: who are the Sacklers? Well, the Sacklers start with 3 brothers. Isaac & Sophie Sackler, Polish immigrants, had 3 sons: Arthur, Mortimer, & Raymond. The 3 brothers began a long career in medical practices starting in the mid to late 1940s. Arthur, a premeditated expert on medical advertising, was consequential in the marketing of Valium, a medicine used to treat many conditions including anxiety and insomnia which is still used today. In 1952, the trio of siblings bought a company called Purdue Frederick. Meanwhile, Arthur began collecting an enormous amount of art, while Mortimer and Raymond basically ran the company. In the late 80s, the company changed its name to Purdue Pharma. In my opinion though, more interesting is the Sacklers personal lives during this time, so brace yourselves, because here comes a lot of names. Arthur married a woman named Else and had 2 daughters: Carol & Elizabeth. Then after a divorce he married a woman named Marietta and had 2 children: Denise & Arthur Jr. Next came Mortimer who first married a Muriel and had 3 children: Ilene, Kathe, and Robert. After a divorce, he again married, this time to a lady named Geri and 2 kids: Samantha and Mortimer Jr. He then married a third time to a woman named Theresa, and 3 kids: Marissa, Michael, and Sophie. Finally came Raymond who married Beverly Feldman and had 2 sons who are very important to this story: Jonathan and Richard. Richard has a son named David also. The picture below is of the patriarch: Arthur. 

Now that you have some history, here is the story of how they got rich. Richard Sackler and his cousin Kathe discovered that oxycodone had greater affects at treating pain than normal hydrocodone did. They aggressively marketed it to doctors through pushing sales representatives to "sell, sell, sell". The initial selling of Oxy was limited but come 2001, it was on top of the world. The number of prescriptions was utterly ridiculous. OxyContin became so prescribed that abuse of it was only to follow. Once prescriptions ran out of this drug, people turned to a cheaper and darker alternative: heroin. Deaths were climbing at an unprecedented rate, while the Sacklers at Purdue grew richer and richer every day. Arthur had died in 1987 so his wing of the family sold their shares of the company long before Oxy came on the scene, but the heirs of Mortimer and Raymond both benefited from and actively played a role in the role out of this drug. The most involved family member was unquestionably Richard who was president of Purdue Pharma from 1996-2003, which were the boom years of them selling opioids. Richard and Mortimer Jr. joined the board in 1990, followed by Beverly, Jonathan, and Kathe, along with her sister Ilene and Theresa, as well as Richard's son David in the latter years. These 8 members played crucial inside roles of how Purdue changed the painkiller spectrum. 

With all the money they got, they decided to slap their name on buildings and institutions: American Museum of Natural History's Sackler Educational Library, Día Art Foundation's Sackler Institute, Guggenheim Museum's Sackler Center for Arts Education, Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archeology's Sackler Keeper of Antiquities, British Museum's Raymond and Beverly Sackler Wing + Raymond and Beverly Sackler Rooms, City & Guilds of London Art School's Sackler Library, King's College London Sackler Institute of Pulmonary Pharmacology +Translational Neurodevelopment, National Gallery's Sackler Room, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew Sackler Crossing, The Sackler Health Science Complex,

Victoria and Albert Museum's Sackler Courtyard, among many others. 

But interestingly enough, their grip might be starting to fail, the Louvre, Met and the Serpentine Gallery have all dropped the Sackler name from their institutions plus nearly all of the prior places I mentioned have cut funding from the Sacklers completely. And this slashing of funds might be the branch of why people hate them so much. They are basically behind the current opioid epidemic essentially. In 2007, Purdue Pharma had to pay over $600 million for misleading marketing. And in 2019, they pled guilty to multiple felonies that made the Sacklers drop family ownership. Plus, nearly all states have filed lawsuits against the Sacklers for their role in OxyContin. 

So, what happens next? Well, the 3 original brothers have all died along with Beverly, and Jonathan. David's wife Jassleen has maintained an active role in NYC high society, but other than that, all of the Sacklers have maintained terrifyingly low public profiles. Many Sacklers have like only one photo online and the photos are sometimes from 20 years old. While the Sacklers have pledged to donate to help stop addiction it is crucial to remember their roles in this crisis. The fact still remains that hundreds of thousands have died because of this drug basically. Plus, many, many more have overdosed on heroin because of starting with drugs like these, including my uncle Jim who got hooked on Methamphetamine and Fentanyl. It seems to be that they are keeping all of their profit that they made from peoples suffering, but strangely enough, museums and other elite institutions have scrapped the Sackler name from the walls and that seem to be a suiting punishment for them. David Sackler had stated that he loved the fact their name was everywhere. But we mustn't forget the pain that was inflicted on hundreds of thousands of Americans because of one family's greed. I suggest you buy and read Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty. I bought it and it is an amazing book that has given me so much insight into this remarkable family. 

To conclude, you may be feeling angry right now with the Sacklers and their money but remember that at the end of the day, the one thing we need to do dwell on are those who have lost loved ones to this silent pandemic. Collectively, if we demand change enough, change will come. The Sackler dynasty is one of great intention of trying to solve the pain that is endured by so many sufferers, but fell to greed and fame fortune. The most important thing though for those who have dealt with this issue, is truth and reconciliation for the pain they have experienced.

This is an addendum added on 5/8/22: The Guggenheim, National Gallery, Royal Botanic Gardens, British Museum, King's College, Dia Art, and every single institute mentioned (with a FEW exceptions) have scrapped Sackler from the walls and websites of their properties.