To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Protesters threw dozens of prescription pill bottles into the moat in the Sackler Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Sunday, to protest the Sackler family's manufacturing and marketing of OxyContin, which experts say contributed significantly to the current opioid addiction epidemic. (Photo: Andrew Russeth/Twitter)
Calling attention to the huge contribution the influential Big Pharma family the Sacklers, has made to the Metropolitan Museum of Art while also setting the groundwork for the opioid addiction epidemic, dozens of protesters staged a demonstration over the weekend in the $3.5 million wing the family donated to the museum.
Led by photographer Nan Goldin, founder of Prescription Addiction Intervention Now (PAIN), the protesters threw prescription pill bottles labeled "Prescribed to You by the Sackler Family" into the reflecting pool in the Sackler Wing.
Chanting, "Shame on Sackler" and "The Sacklers knew their pills would kill," the demonstrators argued that the family knew one of its top-selling pharamaceutical products, OxyContin, was highly addictive and dangerous for long-term use, even though it was marketed for such in the 1990s.
The Sackler family owns Purdue Pharma, the company behind the popular painkiller OxyContin. Purdue spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the 1990s convincing doctors and patients that OxyContin should be used for chronic pain rather than for acute, temporary pain that a patient might have after surgery, or for end-of-life care.
OxyContin's active ingredient is oxycodone, a highly addictive opiate that's chemically very similar to heroin. As Purdue pushed the drug, opioid overdoses in the U.S. went up 200 percent from 2000 to 2014. Nearly 64,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2016, with 66 percent of those deaths involving opioids.
In 2007, Purdue executives pleaded guilty to misbranding OxyContin as a non-addictive long-term solution to pain. The company has since been sued by 14 states including Alabama, Washington, and Montana for its deceptive marketing practices.
At the protest, demonstrators held a "die-in" and handed out pamphlets to onlookers, sharing statistics on the opioid epidemic and demanding that the Sacklers help Americans suffering from addiction.
"It's time for the family that helped create this problem answer to the people worst affected," the pamphlet read. "We demand they fund treatment...We intend to hold the Sacklers accountable, and put social and political pressure on them to respond meaningfully to this crisis."
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Our Summer Campaign is now underway, and there’s never been a more urgent time for Common Dreams to be as vigilant as possible. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Calling attention to the huge contribution the influential Big Pharma family the Sacklers, has made to the Metropolitan Museum of Art while also setting the groundwork for the opioid addiction epidemic, dozens of protesters staged a demonstration over the weekend in the $3.5 million wing the family donated to the museum.
Led by photographer Nan Goldin, founder of Prescription Addiction Intervention Now (PAIN), the protesters threw prescription pill bottles labeled "Prescribed to You by the Sackler Family" into the reflecting pool in the Sackler Wing.
Chanting, "Shame on Sackler" and "The Sacklers knew their pills would kill," the demonstrators argued that the family knew one of its top-selling pharamaceutical products, OxyContin, was highly addictive and dangerous for long-term use, even though it was marketed for such in the 1990s.
The Sackler family owns Purdue Pharma, the company behind the popular painkiller OxyContin. Purdue spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the 1990s convincing doctors and patients that OxyContin should be used for chronic pain rather than for acute, temporary pain that a patient might have after surgery, or for end-of-life care.
OxyContin's active ingredient is oxycodone, a highly addictive opiate that's chemically very similar to heroin. As Purdue pushed the drug, opioid overdoses in the U.S. went up 200 percent from 2000 to 2014. Nearly 64,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2016, with 66 percent of those deaths involving opioids.
In 2007, Purdue executives pleaded guilty to misbranding OxyContin as a non-addictive long-term solution to pain. The company has since been sued by 14 states including Alabama, Washington, and Montana for its deceptive marketing practices.
At the protest, demonstrators held a "die-in" and handed out pamphlets to onlookers, sharing statistics on the opioid epidemic and demanding that the Sacklers help Americans suffering from addiction.
"It's time for the family that helped create this problem answer to the people worst affected," the pamphlet read. "We demand they fund treatment...We intend to hold the Sacklers accountable, and put social and political pressure on them to respond meaningfully to this crisis."
Calling attention to the huge contribution the influential Big Pharma family the Sacklers, has made to the Metropolitan Museum of Art while also setting the groundwork for the opioid addiction epidemic, dozens of protesters staged a demonstration over the weekend in the $3.5 million wing the family donated to the museum.
Led by photographer Nan Goldin, founder of Prescription Addiction Intervention Now (PAIN), the protesters threw prescription pill bottles labeled "Prescribed to You by the Sackler Family" into the reflecting pool in the Sackler Wing.
Chanting, "Shame on Sackler" and "The Sacklers knew their pills would kill," the demonstrators argued that the family knew one of its top-selling pharamaceutical products, OxyContin, was highly addictive and dangerous for long-term use, even though it was marketed for such in the 1990s.
The Sackler family owns Purdue Pharma, the company behind the popular painkiller OxyContin. Purdue spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the 1990s convincing doctors and patients that OxyContin should be used for chronic pain rather than for acute, temporary pain that a patient might have after surgery, or for end-of-life care.
OxyContin's active ingredient is oxycodone, a highly addictive opiate that's chemically very similar to heroin. As Purdue pushed the drug, opioid overdoses in the U.S. went up 200 percent from 2000 to 2014. Nearly 64,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2016, with 66 percent of those deaths involving opioids.
In 2007, Purdue executives pleaded guilty to misbranding OxyContin as a non-addictive long-term solution to pain. The company has since been sued by 14 states including Alabama, Washington, and Montana for its deceptive marketing practices.
At the protest, demonstrators held a "die-in" and handed out pamphlets to onlookers, sharing statistics on the opioid epidemic and demanding that the Sacklers help Americans suffering from addiction.
"It's time for the family that helped create this problem answer to the people worst affected," the pamphlet read. "We demand they fund treatment...We intend to hold the Sacklers accountable, and put social and political pressure on them to respond meaningfully to this crisis."