Raymond Sackler

Raymond Sackler KBE (February 16, 1920 – July 17, 2017)[2] was an American physician and businessman. Raymond Sackler founded Purdue Pharma together with his brothers Arthur M. Sackler and Mortimer Sackler. Purdue Pharma is the developer of OxyContin, the drug at the center of the opioid epidemic in the United States.[3][4][5]

Raymond Sackler
KBE
Born(1920-02-16)February 16, 1920
Brooklyn, New York, United States
DiedJuly 17, 2017(2017-07-17) (aged 97)
Education
Alma mater
New York University

Middlesex University School of Medicine

OccupationPhysician and pharmaceuticals entrepreneur
Known forOpioid Crisis, Philanthropist, art collector
Net worth$13 billion (2016)[1]
Spouse(s)Beverly Feldman
Children
Relatives

Sackler, along with his brother Arthur, have been linked with the rise of direct pharmaceutical marketing and eventually to the rise of addiction to OxyContin in the United States.[4] There are concerns that the Sackler family's philanthropy is used as "reputation laundering" from profits acquired from the misselling of opiates.[6][7]

Early life

Born in Brooklyn, New York to a Jewish family, in 1920, Sackler was educated at Erasmus High School, and attended New York University where he received a bachelor's degree in 1938. Due to Jewish quotas imposed by the major U.S. medical schools during that era, he started his medical education at Anderson College of Medicine in Glasgow, Scotland, which he attended from 1938 to 1940.[8] When World War II began, he stayed in Scotland and volunteered in the British Home Guard and also served as a plane spotter.[9] He returned to the U.S. and completed his studies at Middlesex University School of Medicine (a school on the site of current day Brandeis University in Waltham, MA.) where he received an MD in 1944. Sackler married Beverly Feldman in 1944. They had two sons, Richard S. Sackler and Jonathan D. Sackler. Beverly Sackler died on October 15, 2019 at the age of 95.[10]

Medical career

Sackler was certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (P) in 1957, and was a Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.[11] Sackler, with his two brothers, Arthur and Mortimer, co-founded the Creedmoor Institute for Psychobiological Studies in New York City, where they engaged in research in the psycho-biology of schizophrenia and manic depressive psychosis. They received two awards from the Medical Society of the State of New York: the First Award for Scientific Research; and one year later, Honorable Mention for Scientific Research. In 1998, Sackler was awarded a Doctor of Law Honoris Causa from the University of Cambridge.[12]

Pharmaceutical business

With lessons learned in research, Sackler and his brother Mortimer transitioned into the development of numerous pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and research companies, Sackler being closely associated with the now global reach of Purdue Pharma in the United States and Canada and Mundipharma, Ltd. in Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Purdue Pharma, which is 100% privately owned and operated by the families of Raymond and Mortimer Sackler, is well known for successful research and development, and particularly for marketing[4][3] the opiate drug Oxycontin and related compounds.

Controversy

On October 30, 2017, The New Yorker published a multi-page exposé on Raymond Sackler, Purdue Pharma, and the Sackler family.[4] The article links Raymond and Arthur Sackler's business acumen with the rise of direct pharmaceutical marketing and eventually to the rise of addiction to OxyContin in the United States. The article implies that Raymond Sackler bears moral responsibility for the opioid epidemic in the United States.[4]

In 2019, the New York Times revealed that Sackler had told company officials in 2008 to “measure our performance by Rx’s by strength, giving higher measures to higher strengths.”[13] This was verified by legally obtained documents tied to a new lawsuit filed in June 2018 by the Massachusetts attorney general, Maura Healey. The lawsuit claims that Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family knew that putting patients on high dosages of OxyContin for long periods increased the risks of serious side effects, including addiction. Nonetheless, they promoted higher dosages because stronger pain pills brought the company and the Sacklers the most profit. On February 1, 2019, Healey released unredacted documents showing that the Sacklers directed doctors to overprescribe the drug and listed doctors (under the code name "Region Zero") who overprescribed Oxycontin for the Sackler family's profit rather than patients' health.[14]

See also

References
  1. Bosilkovski, Igor. "Raymond Sackler, Former CEO Of OxyContin Producer Purdue Pharma, Dies At 97". forbes.com. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  2. admin (18 July 2017). "Raymond Sackler Obituary - Greenwich, Connecticut". Legacy.com. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  3. "The Secretive Family Making Billions From the Opioid Crisis". Esquire. 2017-10-16. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
  4. Keefe, Patrick Radden (2017-10-23). "The Family That Built an Empire of Pain". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
  5. Langer, Emily (July 21, 2017). "Raymond Sackler, philanthropist and maker of OxyContin, dies at 97". Washington Post. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  6. "New Yorker Sackler Article". newyorker.com. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
  7. "Sackler Blood Money disgraces museums". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
  8. Roberts, Sam (July 19, 2017). "Raymond Sackler, Psychopharmacology Pioneer and Philanthropist, Dies at 97". The New York Times. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  9. "Dr. Raymond Sackler, co-owner of Purdue Pharma, dies at 97". Fairfield County Business Journal. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  10. "Beverly Sackler, an owner of Purdue Pharma, dies". CNBC. October 15, 2019.
  11. "About the Sackler Lecture Series". University of Connecticut. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  12. "Reporter 8/7/98: Congregation of the Regent House on 24 June 1998". Admin.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
  13. Meier, Barry (2019-01-31). "Sackler Scion's Email Reveals Push for High-Dose OxyContin, New Lawsuit Disclosures Claim". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
  14. "Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Purdue Phrama L.P., Purdue Pharma Inc., Richard Sackler, ... First Amended Complaint and Jury Demand" (PDF). p. 104.
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