We, concerned students, faculty, and staff within the academic, medical and biomedical communities demand institutions address their troubling relationships with the Sackler family, who have played a significant role in the onset and maintenance of the opioid epidemic ravaging this country.
 
Those of us in the scientific and health professions have clear missions to serve, teach, and discover through excellence in patient care, education, and research. As students, we aspire to fulfill this mission of exceptional patient-centered care and sound science, and we expect our institutions to foster an environment congruent with these values.
 
However, these core institutional values are completely at odds with the actions of a significant donor to many biomedical institutions: the Sackler family. The Sackler family has recently been the subject of many news articles and investigations, which have uncovered the Sacklers’ integral role in the increased prescribing of illicit opioids that underpins the current opioid crisis in this country [1][2][3][4][5] The Sacklers have made major donations to NYU, Harvard, Tufts, Cornell/Rockefeller, Columbia, and Yale [6][7], as well as many other prestigious academic and cultural institutions. They maintain close affiliation with these schools as evidenced by the naming of various academic programs [8], university museums, scholarships, and even a brand new surgery center [9].
 
Background
A series of recent news reports has drawn renewed attention to the Sackler family and their outsized role in causing and maintaining the US opioid epidemic. This secretive family owns Purdue Pharmaceuticals, a privately held pharmaceutical company that produces and markets the blockbuster painkiller Oxycontin [10]. Beginning in the 1990s, Purdue aggressively marketed OxyContin for conditions where use is more likely to harm than to help [11]. The company financed a multifaceted campaign to convince the medical community and the public that risk of addiction from long-term opioid use was exceedingly rare [12]. This highly effective marketing campaign led to an exponential increase in opioid prescriptions, along with parallel increases in opioid use disorder and opioid overdose deaths [13]. Despite a criminal conviction and a $600 million fine in 2007 for illegally promoting use of OxyContin [14], Purdue has continued to promote aggressive opioid prescribing. For example, in 2016 Purdue attempted to block release of the CDC opioid prescribing guidelines in order to maintain the company’s famously aggressive opioid marketing strategies [15]. Additionally, it has been recently unveiled that the Sackler family, particularly Dr. Richard Sackler, further seeks to profit from this crisis as one of six patent holders of a new form of buprenorphine, a highly effective treatment for opioid addiction [16].

Thus the Sackler family (through Purdue Pharmaceuticals) has enabled the unchecked proliferation of opioids in the USA, which experts agree has resulted in the current crisis spanning the nation [17]. Deaths from opioid overdoses last year alone (2017) outpaced the Vietnam War in terms of American lives lost [18]. In recognition of the scope of this epidemic, and the role played by Purdue in creating and sustaining it, many municipalities and at least 27 US states are pursuing legal action against these companies [19]. Indeed, in light of the hundreds of lawsuits Purdue is currently facing, it was recently reported that the company is attempting to restructure in order to avoid facing responsibility for their actions over the past two decades [20]. This desperate move comes after failed attempts to whitewash their role in the opioid epidemic [21] [22], and is a component of their broader legal strategy to dodge responsibility, for example by secretly lobbying against laws that hold business executives legally responsible for criminal actions of their company [23].
 
Demands
Given the role the Sackler family has played in the opioid epidemic, students, staff and members of the health and scientific communities institutions must take action to address and combat this damaging association. The following are demands to all medical and scientific institutions to disaffiliate (if already associated with the Sackler family), and to prevent future affiliation from those institutions yet to forge a financial relationship. We believe these actions below can begin to rectify our communities’ past involvement with the Sackler family, and ultimately the opioid epidemic:
 
1.     Institutions who have received money from the Sackler family should issue an official statement concerning:
             -the incongruence of the specific institution’s mission with the Sackler family,
             -renaming any program that bears the namesake of the Sackler family,
             -transparency on money accepted from the Sackler family, and
             -a commitment to not taking more donations from the Sackler family.
2.     Institutions who have received money from the Sackler family should direct equal levels of funds received from the Sacklers to community-based harm reduction organizations that supply resources such as naloxone, safe consumption sites, and needle exchanges for patients with opioid usage and dependence.
3.     All medical and scientific institutions should commit to refusing all future financial donations from the Sackler family until they atone for their role in the opioid crisis.  
 

By following these demands, academic institutions can move forward and truly exemplify our common mission of excellent patient care and research with integrity. We ask our administrations to lead us on this path through honest implementation of institutional change. Although unable to alter past actions, the medical and biomedical community can use its resources and compassion to help shape a better future for patients struggling in the aftermath of opioid addiction.
 
 
Sponsoring/solidarity organizations:

TUSM Community and Public Health Interest Group
NYU Harm Reduction Alliance
White Coats for Black Lives at UMass Med
HMS Racial Justice Coalition
LAHMS (LGBTQ and Allies at Harvard Medical School)
Harvard Medical School Disaster Medicine Interest Group
 
Signatures:
Ashley Lewis MD/PhD student NYU
Angela Frankel MD/MPH student Tufts University School of Medicine
Allison Rhodes MD student Tufts University School of Medicine
Emily Miller MD student Tufts University School of Medicine
Sarah Hemphill MD student Tufts University School of Medicine
Gregg Miller MD student Tufts University School of Medicine
Jasmine Gale MD student Tufts University School of Medicine
Suzanna Talento MD student Tufts University School of Medicine
Adeline Browne MD student Tufts medical school
Andrew Thompson MD student Tufts University School of Medicine
Jeffrey Savarino MD/MPH Student Tufts University School of Medicine
Sam Gretz MD student Tufts University School of Medicine
Joumana Samaha MD/MPH student Tufts University School of Medicine
Lianet Vazquez, BS, BA, MA MD student Harvard Medical School
Amina Rahimi MD student HMS
Bradford Greaves M.S. MD student Tufts University School of Medicine
Dana Tripp MD student Tufts University School of Medicine
Joanna Watterson, BS MD student NYU School of Medicine
Patrick R. Ng, B.S. MD student Harvard Medical School
Noah Rosenberg MD student New York University School of Medicine
Elana Kreiger-Benson MD student NYU School of Medicine
Bridget Harrop MD student Tufts University School Of Medicine
Lee Brake MD student NYU School of Medicine
Susannah Daggett MD student Tufts University School of Medicine
Leah Pierson MD/PhD student Harvard Medical School
Tzeidel Eichenberg MD student UMass Med
Sarah Madoff MD student Tufts University School of Medicine
Emily Adams, BS MD student Harvard Medical School
Nicolas Mathey-Andrews MD student Harvard Medical School
Liz Noyes MD student Harvard Medical School
Joseph Saglimbeni MD/PhD student NYU School of Medicine
Savannah Pearson Ayala MD student NYU School of Medicine
Emma Hartswick MD student Harvard Medical School
Shourie Jonna MD student School of Medicine
Ashley Sartoris MD/PhD student NYU
Keshav Mangalick MD student NYU school of medicine
Alejandro Javier Gupta (B.S.) MD student NYU Langone School of Medicine
Alcida Karz MD/PhD student NYU School of Medicine/Sackler Institute
Alice Fok, M.S. MD/PhD student School of Medicine
Amanda Jurewicz, BA Molecular and Cellular Biology MD student NYU School of Medicine
Alexa Hooberman MD student Tufts University School of Medicine
Louisa Bauer MD student Tufts University School of Medicine
Zachary Zuniga MD student NYU
Zoe Norris  MD student NYU SoM
Brian Goddard MD student NYU School of Medicine
Elise Huppert MD student NYUSOM
Pournami Rajeev MD student NYU School of Medicine
Kelly Barry, MS MD student Tufts University School of Medicine
Paul Frazel MD/PhD student NYU
Devorah Kranz, BS Research Associate (Long Lab, NYUMC) Brandeis University
Kinjal Vasavada, BA  MD student Tufts University School of Medicine
Anne Krok MD/PhD student NYU School of Medicine
Madeleine Junkins PhD student Yale University
Max Quinn MD student New York University School of Medicine
Christopher Kuhner, BS MD student NYU SChool of Medicine
Hannah Kopinski, BA MD student NYU School of Medicine
Michael Diiorio ScB MD student Harvard Medical School
Sam Petrie MD student HMS
Allison Merz MD student Harvard Medical School
Pooja Mehta MD student Harvard Medical School
David Mann Dental student Harvard University
Angela Ross Perfetti MD student Harvard Medical School
Kevin Tyan MD student Harvard Medical School
Catherine Wu MD student Harvard Medical School
Mubeen Shakir  MD student Harvard Medical School
Sanjay Gadi MD student HMS
Jade Connor, MSc MD student Harvard Medical School
Mugdha Mokashi, MPH MD student Harvard Medical School
Sofia Hu MD/PhD student Harvard Medical School
Noelle Castilla Ojo MD student HMS
Ashley lewis MD/PhD student NYU School of Medicine
Henry Ashworth, MPH MD student Harvard Medical School
Emory Werner MD student Harvard Medical School
Muhaned Mohamed MD/PhD student NYU School of Medicine
Casey Orozco-Poore, MD candidate MD student Harvard Medical School
Otana Jakpor MD student Harvard Medical School
Wesley Chou MD student Harvard Medical School
Aliya Feroe, BA MD student Harvard Medical School
Uday Agrawal MD student Harvard Medical School
Luke Moretti MD student NYU School of Medicine
Chloe S. Chaudhury, BS MD student NYU School of Medicine
Helen Zhou MD student NYU School of Medicine
Nicholas Frazzette MD student New York University School of Medicine
Christine Santiago, MPH MD student Harvard Medical School
Jonathan J Kusner, BS MD student Harvard Medical School
Rana Suliman MD student Harvard Medical School
Elisabeth Hansen, M.Sc. MD student Harvard Medical School, MS1
Rebecca Hofer MD student Harvard Medical School
Michael D. McGrath MD student NYU School of Medicine
Maahika Srinivasan MD student Harvard Medical Student
Lenny Negron PhD student NYU School of Medicine
Carolina Jaramillo MD student Harvard Medical School
Maria A. D'Iorio MD student NYU SoM
Efe Kakpovbia MD student NYU
Priya Shah MD student Harvard Medical School
Mayer Marc Chalom MD/PhD student Med School/Sackler
Sharnendra Sidhu, B.S. MD student NYU School of Medicine
Michael Cevallos Dental student Harvard School of Dental Medicine
Sarah Martell MD student NYU Langone School of Medicine
Kristen Dammeyer MD student New York University
Nicole Gilette MD/PhD student Harvard Medical School/MIT
Tamina Kienka MD/PhD student Harvard Medical School
Gabriella Herrera MD student Harvard Medical School
Anusha Jayaram MD/MBA Student Tufts University School of Medicine
Carlton Lawrence MD student Harvard Medical School
Youssef El Rahimy MD student NYU SoM
nicolastrad@aol.com MD student Harvard Medical School
Michelle Lee MD student Harvard Medical School
Justin Rice, PhD MD student Harvard Medical School
Christopher Ma, BS Dental student Harvard School of Dental Medicine
Shadaab Kazi MD student Harvard Medical School
Katherine Rich, MPH MD student Harvard Medical School
Anna Morenz MD student Harvard Medical School
Michael Dinh MD student Harvard Medical School
Erin Plews-Ogan MD student Harvard Medical School
Allyson Covello MD student NYU School of Medicine
Melody Huang MD student Harvard Medical School
Austin Herbst MD student Harvard Medical School
Jackie Yang MD student NYU School of Medicine
Evan Rosenberg MD/PhD student NYU School of Medicine
Alaina Bever, BS MD/PhD student Harvard Medical School/MIT
David Davila, BS, MS MD student Tufts School of Medicine
Sid Dogra, BS MD student NYU School of Medicine
Christopher Chornay MD student NYU School of Medicine
Nathnanaelle Ibeziako, MA MD student Tufts Unviersity School of Medicine
Betzamel Lopez, BS MD student Harvard Medical School
Kara McLaughlin Dental student Harvard School of Dental Medicine
Matthew Glenn, MS MD student NYU
George Agyapong MD student Harvard Medical School
Michael Chilazi MD student Harvard Medical School
Rajet Vatsa MD student Harvard Medical School
Daniel Mason MD student Harvard Medical School
Kathleen Koenigs MD student Harvard Medical School
Rebecca Lee MD Faculty Tufts University School of Medicine
Cameron Nutt MD student Harvard Medical School
David Silverman MD student Boston University School of Medicine
Elizabeth Joseph MD student NYU School of Medicine
Nicholos Joseph MD student Harvard Medical School
Drew Adler MD/PhD student NYU SOM
Ayo Douglas MD student Harvard Medical School
Mary Bridget Lee, MS MD/MPH Tufts University School of Medicine
Kira Brayan MD student NYUSOM
Emilie George MD student Weill Cornell Medical College
Sophia Salas MD student Tufts University School of Medicine
Sachi Patil MD student NYU
Rachel Madley PhD student Columbia University
Michael Zingman MD student Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians ans Surgeons
Sydney Russell Leed MD student SUNY Upstate Medical University
Alec Feuerbach MD student Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
James Blum MD student Mount Sinai
Tyler McChane MD student Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Michael Zingman MD student Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons
Amar sheth MD student Yale school of medicine
Kristin Yu, BA MD student Yale School of Medicine
Olivia Dixon Herrington  MD student Yale School of Medicine
May Shum  MD student Yale School of Medicine
Neil Savalia MD/PhD student Yale School of Medicine
Waleed Khan Bsc MD student Yale School of Medicine
David Kirwin  MD student Yale School is Medicine
Lina Vadlamani, MS MD student Yale School of Medicine
Anchi Wu, BS MD/PhD student Yale School of Medicine
Tyler shelby MD/PhD student Yale School of Medicine
Joana Andoh, BS MD student Yale School of Medicine
Zoe Adams  MD student Yale School of Medicine
Lizzy K Fitzsousa MD student Yale School of Medicine
Aminah Sallam MD student Yale School of Medicine
Lorenzo Rakesh Sewanan, MS, MPhil MD/PhD student Yale University
Pasha Davoudian MD/PhD student Yale School of Medicine
David Peprah MD student Yale School of Medicine
Christopher Schenck MD student Yale School of Medicine
Claude-Michael Ezie MD student NYU School of Medicine
Callie Ginapp, BS MD student Yale School of Medicine
Kush Fansiwala MD student NYU School of Medicine
Kristen Medley MD student NYU School of Medicine
Rachel Martel  MD student NYU
Zac Myslinski MD student Weill Cornell Medicine
Tara Pilato MD student Weill Cornell Medical College
Barbara Sahagun MD student Weill Cornell Medicine
Sabrina Pan MD MD student Weill Cornell
Lisa Suzanne Leslie, PhD MD student Weill Cornell Medical College
Sofia Gearty MD/PhD student Weill Cornell Medicine
Stephanie Azzopardi MD/PhD student Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program
Tatiana Requijo, BS  MD student Weill Cornell Medical College
Anthony Palillo MD student Weill Cornell Medicine
Yili Zhao MD student Weill Cornell Medicine
Stephanie Chen MD student Weill Cornell Medical College
Harlan Pietz MD/PhD student Weill Cornell Medicine/The Rockefeller University
Felipd d’Andrea, B.A., M.A. MD/PhD student Weill Cornell Medical College
Mohammad Sadic MD/PhD student NYU School of Medicine
Isaiah Thomas MD student Yale School of Medicine
Isabel A Cuervo MD student Weill Cornell Medical College
Drex Neumann MD student Weill Cornell Medical College
Leora Haber MD student Weill Cornell Medicine
Daniel Shaver MD/PhD student Weill Cornell Medical College
Bassir Caravan MD student NYU School of Medicine
Claire Kenney MD/PhD student Weill Cornell Medical College
Nneoma Adaku MD/PhD student Weill Cornell Medical College
Dylan Tan MS1 MD student Hofstra University
Andre Belarmino MD student Weill Cornell Medical College
Farid Aboharb, BA MD/PhD student Weill Cornell Medical College
Wesley Rogers, BS MD student Weill Cornell Medicine
Sarah Keltz MD student NYU School of Medicine
Jordan Liebman MD student NYU School of Medicine
William Ford MD student Weill Cornell Medicine
Nathaniel Goldblatt MD student Weill Cornell Medical College



[1] https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a12775932/sackler-family-oxycontin/
[2] https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/30/the-family-that-built-an-empire-of-pain
[3] https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-n-j-county-sues-purdue-pharma-sackler-family-for-opioid-marketing-1519248523
[4] https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/04/sacklers-oxycontin-opioids/557525/
[5] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/13/meet-the-sacklers-the-family-feuding-over-blame-for-the-opioid-crisis
[6] https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a12775932/sackler-family-oxycontin/
[7] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/27/universities-sackler-family-purdue-pharma-oxycontin-opioids
[8] e.g., https://sackler.tufts.edu/, http://sacklernutrition.rockefeller.edu/, https://sackler.yale.edu/, http://sackler-institute-columbia.org/, https://med.nyu.edu/research/sackler-institute-graduate-biomedical-sciences/
[9] https://www.nyp.org/news/NYP-Cornell-Unveils-the-Sackler-Brain-and-Spine-Institute
[10] http://www.purduepharma.com/healthcare-professionals/products/oxycontin/
[11] https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/28/us/politics/28oxycontin.html
[12] https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/08/05/oxycontin-purdue-pharma-federal-investigation-dopesick-excerpt-219158
[13] https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122957
[14] https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2017/11/13/yale-donor-linked-to-opioid-crisis/
[15] https://theintercept.com/2015/12/23/oxycontin-cdc-politics/ 
[16] https://www.statnews.com/2018/09/07/richard-sackler-member-of-family-behind-oxycontin-was-granted-patent-for-addiction-treatment/ 
[17] https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122957
[18] http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/02/americas-opioid-epidemic.html
[19] https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/New-Haven-sues-Purdue-Pharma-others-over-opioid-12339183.php
[20] https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/17/oxycontin-maker-purdue-taps-financial-restructuring-adviser.html
[21] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/purdue-pharma-new-york-times-ad_us_5a33f201e4b0e1b4472ae5cf
[22] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/sep/30/theyre-drug-dealers-in-armani-suits-executives-draw-focus-amid-us-epidemic 
[23] https://theintercept.com/2018/02/23/purdue-pharma-oxycontin-opioid-crisis/

Other resources and articles:
https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2018/01/26/culpable-in-the-opioid-crisis-commemorated-at-yale/
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/ - 658503575e02
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/12/massachusetts-opioid-lawsuit-sackler-family-oxycontin
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-strategy-suing-opioid-maker-blamed-addiction-crisis-target-family-n883091
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/sep/30/theyre-drug-dealers-in-armani-suits-executives-draw-focus-amid-us-epidemic