New York Met Museum Avoids Sackler Family Donations

Copyright of the image
Spencer Platt / Getty Images

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City announced Wednesday that it would avoid the gifts of the American Sackler family, enriched by the production of opioids.

The billionaire family owns Purdue Pharma, a company that makes opioids like OxyContin – linked to the deaths of thousands of Americans.

The company denied allegations that it would have minimized abuse and addiction concerns to encourage wider use.

The Met's decision follows a wave of similar decisions by other galleries.

The National Portrait Gallery and Tate galleries in London, as well as the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum in New York, have already sought to set themselves apart from controversial patrons.

The Met attracts more than seven million visitors each year, making it one of the world's most visited art museums.

Copyright of the image
Reuters

"The museum takes a position of gratitude and respect towards those who support us, but we think it is sometimes necessary to move away from gifts that are not in the interest of the public or of our institution" said Daniel H Weiss, general manager. president of the Met, according to the New York Times. "That's what we do here."

Mr Weiss said the museum would not take away the family name at the Sackler Wing, which is home to the Dendur Temple and one of the Met's most popular attractions.

This decision ends a decades-old relationship between the museum and the Sackler family.

The New York Times quoted a 1978 press release announcing the dedication of the Sackler wing, whose construction cost had risen to $ 9.5 million, or about $ 36 million in US dollars. # 39; aujourd & # 39; hui.

In March, Purdue Pharma reached a settlement of $ 270 million in a lawsuit that its opioids would have contributed to the deaths of thousands of people.

The lawsuit filed by Oklahoma alleged that, to persuade doctors to prescribe painkillers, Purdue, and other companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Teva Pharmaceutical, would have decided to "falsely minimize the risk of opioid addiction" and " overestimate "the benefits of their medications to treat a wide range of conditions.

The agreement is the first that Purdue has concluded between approximately 2,000 other lawsuits related to its OxyContin painkiller.

Companies deny the claims.

In a statement posted on the Sackler Trust website in March, the trust's president, Dame Theresa Sackler, said the family would "temporarily pause any new philanthropic donations" in the UK due to the fact that the family will not be able to pay. thorough review of Purdue Pharma.

"This attention distracts them from the important work they do," she wrote.

In Canada, a Toronto-based law firm announced Wednesday that it has filed a $ 1.1 billion class action suit against 28 separate pharmaceutical companies on behalf of opioid Canadians who have been prescribed drugs and become addicts.