Sackler family - American family
Sackler family - American family
Sackler family, American family, owner of the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma. Although the family is well known for its philanthropic contributions to major institutions in the United States and Europe, its members gained notoriety in the early 21st century for their role in promulgating the U.S. opioid epidemic. Purdue Pharma had accrued billions of dollars through sales of OxyContin, a formulation of the potent pain-relieving and highly addictive synthetic opioid drug oxycodone. Although a different formulation of oxycodone, manufactured by Merck & Co., was removed from the market in 1990 because of a high risk of addiction, members of the Sackler family downplayed the dangers of OxyContin, deceiving doctors into thinking that it was weaker than morphine and convincing them to prescribe the drug liberally. (Britannica.com, UK, aufgerufen am 19.09.2024)