V&A Dundee removes Sackler name signs over opioid links

The family owns the company which manufactures the painkiller OxyContin - which has been hit with lawsuits in the US.

1st Sep 2023

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Dundee City

Dundee’s V&A museum has removed signs with the Sackler family name due to their alleged links with the ongoing opioid crisis in the US.

The billionaire family owns Purdue Pharma, the company which manufactures the painkiller OxyContin.

OxyContin has been linked to a dramatic increase in the number of opioid overdose deaths in America – leading the Sackler family to be hit with a series of lawsuits.

Before Dundee’s V&A opened in September 2018, the museum received a £500,000 donation from the Sackler Trust.

However, signage recognising the donation was taken down in August, with a separate sign in the museum’s Oak Room removed in September 2022.

The museum confirmed that it has not returned the donation.

The story of the Sackler family’s role in marketing the drug has been featured in Dopesick on Disney+ and Painkiller on Netflix.

A V&A Dundee spokeswoman said: “Along with many other cultural organisations in the UK and abroad, V&A Dundee has removed signage relating to the Sackler Trust.

“It was agreed by V&A Dundee’s Board to remove the final piece of Sackler Trust crediting in August 2023.

“V&A Dundee, like other organisations who have removed crediting, is not in talks to return the historic capital support received for the creation of the museum, which were made before V&A Dundee opened in 2018.”