Met dropping Sackler name from museum over opioid links

New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art said Thursday it was stripping the Sackler name from several exhibition wings, amid ongoing controversy over the billionaire family's alleged role in fueling the opioid crisis.

The Sackler name will be removed from seven exhibitions, among them the wing housing the Temple of Dendur, the Met said in a joint statement with the family.

The Sacklers -- long a major benefactor of museums and prestigious universities -- owned pharmaceutical giant Purdue Pharma, and are accused of profiting off the sale of the opioid OxyContin that is blamed for tens of thousands of deaths.

"Our families have always strongly supported The Met, and we believe this to be in the best interest of the Museum and the important mission that it serves," descendants of Mortimer and Raymond Sackler said in the statement.

"The earliest of these gifts were made almost 50 years ago, and now we are passing the torch to others who might wish to step forward to support the museum."

The museum in 2019 cut off funding from the Sackler family, but was relatively slow to remove the name from its wings.

Paris' Louvre became the first major institution to do so, dropping "Sackler" from its "Sackler Wing of Oriental Antiquities" in 2019.

The Met's move is a noteworthy severing of ties, as cultural institutions elsewhere grapple with the sometimes problematic names behind their donations.

"The Met has been built by the philanthropy of generations of donors -- and the Sacklers have been among our most generous supporters," said Dan Weiss, the museum's president and CEO.

"This gracious gesture by the Sacklers aids the museum in continuing to serve this and future generations. We greatly appreciate it."

A number of museums including The Smithsonian, The Guggenheim and London's Tate and National Gallery refuse financial contributions from the Sacklers.

US deaths from drug overdoses surged to a record 93,000 in 2020, a spike driven largely by rising opioid use during the pandemic, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than 500,000 Americans have died of opioid overdoses -- both prescription and non-prescription -- since 1999.

The crisis has also prompted a wave of lawsuits from victims of the drugs and from cities, counties and states grappling with recovery and prevention efforts.

Opioid manufacturers like Purdue Pharma were the first to be targeted, accused of encouraging free-wheeling prescription of their products through aggressive marketing tactics while hiding how addictive the drugs are.

Purdue Pharma was dissolved in September following a controversial bankruptcy settlement, in which it agreed to pay out $4.5 billion to victims of the drugs and states, counties and other entities in exchange for a degree of immunity for its owners, the Sacklers.