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OxyContin is one of the most notorious medicines in US history. Despite only entering the market in 1996, the highly addictive painkiller has become the focus of a prescription drug epidemic. According to the CDC [Centres for Disease Control and Prevention] nearly 500,000 Americans have died from overdoses related to it and other opioids.
While public anger against OxyContin’s manufacturer, Purdue Pharma, built quickly, for a long time the identity of the owners of the privately held company, the Sackler family, was not well known. Even as they raked in billions – their wealth is estimated at $13bn – they were celebrated for their philanthropy, donating huge sums to museums and cultural institutions that named buildings and rooms after them: the Serpentine Sackler Gallery in London; the Sackler Wing at The Louvre in Paris.