What happens if you're running an arts institution and suddenly one of your most generous donors

is in the news for all the wrong reasons?

Purdue Farma and the family behind it, the Sacklers, have been sued over a thousand times

for falsely marketing their super opioid to maximize their profits.

The family has been accused of profiting from its highly addicted painkiller and the opioid

crisis.

Last week, a federal judge overturned a four and a half billion dollar settlement that

had been reached between the company, the Sacklers and local governments.

Over the last decade, the Sackler family have donated over 160 million pounds to the arts

and sciences in the UK alone.

But now, their association with America's opioid addiction epidemic is forcing many institutions

to rethink their relationship.

For decades, the Sackler name was a fixture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

City.

In 2019, the Met announced it would no longer accept gifts from the family.

Once people started to realise that these drugs were incredibly addictive, people were

dying, turning to street drugs as well.

There was a sort of a growing movement against them.

So how has one family bought its way into so many British institutions, and now that

their money looks tainted, should their donations be returned?

You're listening to Stories of Our Times from the Times and the Sunday Times.

I'm Manvine Rana.

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