Don't blame opioid crisis only on the Sacklers

A reckoning is underway regarding the tens of thousands of Americans who have died from overdoses, and the lives destroyed from addiction to prescription opioids. Many companies that profited greatly from the excessive sales of painkillers are now reaching settlements that will force drugmakers, distributors and other firms to pay billions to governments and survivors.

One of those companies belongs to two branches of a single family: the Sacklers. Until recently, they were better known for their support for the arts and higher education than their connection to the opioid crisis through their ownership of Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin. As much of this litigation wraps up, it’s tempting to blame them for the entire opioid crisis. Although they did play a pivotal role, David Herzberg, a University at Buffalo historian who researches addictive prescription drugs, argues that Purdue’s misbehavior points to broader problems in the pharmaceutical industry. Until those problems are fixed, he warns, “the unhappy history of addictive prescription drugs will keep repeating itself.”

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