This is an OZY Special Briefing, an extension of the Presidential Daily Brief. The Special Briefing tells you what you need to know about an important issue, individual or story that is making news. Each one serves up an interesting selection of facts, opinions, images and videos in order to catch you up and vault you ahead. WHAT TO KNOW What’s happening? With the opioid crisis claiming tens of thousands of American lives each year — nearly 49,000 in 2017 alone — attention has increasingly turned to the company critics say helped start it all: Purdue Pharma. The firm is widely blamed for pushing doctors to overprescribe its product, OxyContin, for years. But behind the pharmaceutical giant is a generous family, the Sacklers, who’ve cemented themselves as high-level donors at some of the world’s leading cultural and educational institutions. Until recently, they’ve mostly flown under the radar. But amid ongoing civic and legal efforts to connect the family to Purdue Pharma’s worst transgressions, their philanthropy is coming under intense scrutiny. Why does it matter? Some observers say the opioid industry may soon face its Big Tobacco moment, a time of reckoning that forces the pharmaceutical industry, through costly lawsuits, to admit its role in fueling a widespread public health crisis. Whether or not that happens, the organizations that have benefitted from the Sackler name are still likely to face increasing pressure to cut their ties with the family — and maybe even reconsider the very nature of philanthropy. |