Tel Aviv University removes Sackler family, makers of OxyContin, from medical school's full name
Tel Aviv University says it has removed the Sackler family — known as the makers of OxyContin — from the full name of its medical school after decades of donations
JERUSALEM (AP) — Tel Aviv University announced on Wednesday that it has removed the Sackler family from the full name of its medical school after decades of donations from the makers of OxyContin.
The move came after years of petitions to pull the longtime donors' name from the campus while the Sacklers faced extensive lawsuits for their role in the opioid epidemic.
Last month an American court approved a plan for the maker of OxyContin to settle thousands of legal claims connected to the opioid epidemic while shielding the billionaire owners of Purdue Pharma, the Sackler family, from additional lawsuits.
The university said that “the Sackler family has kindly agreed to remove their name from the Faculty of Medicine” in order to allow new donors a chance to put their name on it, while it “gratefully acknowledges the multi-decade contributions of the Sackler family.”
