On Thursday, Tufts University announced the immediate removal of the Sackler name from all buildings and programs at its medical school, with leaders citing the family’s role in the nation’s opioid crisis.

The Sackler name will come down from the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, the Center for Medical Education, the Laboratory for the Convergence of Biomedical, Physical and Engineering Sciences and various programs, according to an letter posted on the university’s website from Peter Dolan, Tuft’s chairman of the board of trustees and Anthony Monaco, the university’s president. The letter said:

“Our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and others have shared with us the negative impact the Sackler name has on them each day, noting the human toll of the opioid epidemic in which members of the Sackler family and their company, Purdue Pharma, are associated.”1

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The Sackler family, which owns pharmaceutical giant Purdue Pharma, has been embroiled in accusations that it fueled the opioid crisis.

The decision comes after “long and thoughtful deliberations” and “with the values of this institution as the guiding force,” the letter said.

According to a family attorney Daniel S. Connolly, members of the Sackler family are “reviewing all options available”1 to reverse a Tufts University decision to remove the Sackler name from its school of biomedical sciences, medical education building, and from within medical school programs. He said in a statement to CNN:

“We appreciate that after a careful inquiry Tufts determined what has been right all along, that Purdue and the Sackler family conducted themselves properly and no wrongdoing or threat to academic integrity was found.”1

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Tufts, located just outside of Boston, MA, also announced in the statement that it plans to “establish a $3 million endowment to support education, research, and civic engagement programs aimed at the prevention and treatment of addiction and substance abuse.”

A review conducted by a former US attorney (and commissioned by the university to assess the university’s past relationship with Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers — whose gifts to the university date back to the 1980s) found no wrongdoing by the university or personnel, nor violations of policy. The review also said it found:

“…no evidence of an arrangement by which Purdue or the Sacklers agreed to fund programs or research in exchange for certain outcomes or curriculum.”1

The university said it is taking several steps to “ensure” policies reflect best practices concerning academic research.

In response to Tufts’ decision, Jillian Sackler, the widow of Arthur Sackler, said her late husband had “nothing to do with OxyContin,”1 nor were any of his philanthropic gifts connected to opioids or deceptive medical marketing, “which he likewise had nothing to do with.” She added:

“It deeply saddens me to witness Arthur being blamed for actions taken by his brothers and other OxySacklers.”2

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Peter Dolan, chair of the board of trustees at Tufts University, told CNN:

“While the financial support provided by Arthur may have been intended to provide charitable support for the academic and research mission of the university, the current day association of the opioid epidemic with the Sackler name conflicts with that charitable intent.

Therefore, the Board of Trustees and President Monaco decided that the named association with Tufts — particularly given the direct association with our medical and biomedical sciences school — was untenable and in opposition with the values and mission of the medical school and the university.”1

Many prominent museums have also cut ties to the Sackler family. The National Portrait Gallery in London turned down a contribution of about $1.3 million from the Sackler Trust to the gallery’s Inspiring People project in March. The Louvre in Paris removed the Sackler name from its walls in July. The Metropolitan Museum of Art said that it would no longer accept money from the Sackler family, although it would not rename the Sackler Wing.

Sources:
  1. CNN
  2. USA Today