Oxford University cuts ties with Sacklers over opioids link

The United Kingdom’s University of Oxford will cut its ties with the Sackler family, whose wealth came from addictive opioid drugs, removing the family’s name from buildings, galleries and positions funded through their donations, writes Richard Adams for The Guardian.

The university’s governing council approved the measure to strip the Sackler name from two galleries in the Ashmolean Museum and a university library as well as several staff positions, following an investigation earlier this year by Oxford’s new vice-chancellor, Professor Irene Tracey.

The move follows sustained criticism of Oxford’s retention of the names, as major institutions such as the British Museum and the V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum) removed Sackler titles after recognition that the funding was connected with the family’s ownership of the now bankrupt Purdue Pharma, manufacturers of the addictive OxyContin painkiller.
Full report on The Guardian site