More than 75 members of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine demanded Thursday to explain why millions of dollars donated by the Sackler family have failed to be returned or diverted over the years.
The company’s drug, OxyContin, sparked a prescription opioid crisis that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. million dollars and appointed influential members with financial ties to Purdue Pharma to the committee.
One report published by the Academy claims that 100 million people, or 40% of Americans, suffer from chronic pain. This figure, which was later found to be exaggerated, was cited by pharmaceutical companies to persuade doctors to write high-dose opioid prescriptions.
In a letter delivered to Marsha McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists and economists say Purdue is providing significant funding to provide guidance to federal officials on opioid policy. We asked the organization to clarify how the members of the research committee that runs the nonprofit were selected. Has the system failed in the past?” asked the letter.
“The Academy seemed morally asleep for the past 30 years,” Robert Putnam, the author of the letter and a professor of public policy at Harvard University, said in an interview.
“Of course, we take the concerns of members of the National Academy of Sciences very seriously. ‘, the organization said in a statement on Friday. .
The National Academy was founded by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 to advise the public on scientific and medical matters. The agency elects new members (elite scientists and doctors) each year and provides influential advice to the White House, Congress, and federal agencies.
Approximately 70% of the National Academy’s budget comes from federal funds, but we also collect private donations from individuals, nonprofits, and companies such as Chevron, Google, Merck, and Medtronic.
“Once they start to realize the problem, to understand that this huge influx of private money and that private money often has implicit strings attached to it, it becomes the core of the academy,” Dr. Putnam said. They will find that they are a threat to the principles that govern.” Current leadership of the Academy.
The letter’s signatories include eight Nobel laureates. The two authors are members of the National Academy of Sciences, and in 2017 urged senior officials to keep the organization away from her Sacklers.
Renowned social scientist Robert M. Hauser wrote in an October 2017 email to two Academy executives: .
He and another Academy member concluded that “the NAS should be separated from the Sacklers.” Another member was Angus Deaton, a Nobel laureate and co-author of a book about the soaring deaths associated with drug use and suicide among members of the white working class.
Dr. Deaton said in an interview that he and Dr. Hauser asked to call senior officials about the Sackler family’s involvement.
“There were a lot of problems down this route, tens of thousands of people were dying, and I wanted nothing more than to warn them that Sackler was giving them money,” Deaton said in an interview. I remembered.
Dr. Hauser, who worked at the National Academy from 2010 to 2016, new yorker articles In an email sent to then-Executive Officer Bruce Darling and then-Chief Operating Officer James Hinchman about the “ruthless” marketing of OxyContin by the Sackler family.
“I thought sooner or later this was going to explode in their faces,” Dr. Hauser said in an interview.
Four minutes after Dr. Hauser’s initial request was emailed, he received a reply from Mr. Darling. to discuss with you. “
Darling and Hinchman did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Dr. Hauser recalled that Mr. Darling summarized Mr. and Mrs. Sackler’s donation as already discussed and requiring no new action. Dr. Deaton and Dr. Hauser felt their concerns were put to rest.
Two national academy reports on opioids have faced criticism from experts. A paper published in 2011 included two of his panelists with significant financial ties to Purdue University, and found that 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, and that number was found to be significantly inflated. (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention later estimated that the condition affects between 17 million and 52 million Americans.)
Still, the report provided pharmaceutical companies with topics such as: Proven to be influential With the Food and Drug Administration officials who oversaw the approval of opioids.there was that too Purdue Pharma Attorney Quoted In their response to a Senate inquiry.
Another Academy Committee on Opioid Policy, singled out The commission was formed in 2016 by Oregon Democratic Rep. Sen. Ron Wyden because some members are linked to Purdue. rice field.
Article progressive and of BMJMoreor the British Journal of Medicine, also noted Sackler’s ties to the Academy and identified additional committee members with ties to Purdue.
Friday’s letter sought “clear answers” about what procedures are in place to “ensure that members of the advisory board are properly reviewed,” among other questions.
The Academy told The Times that, after 2019, the Sackler family’s donations were no longer used for their intended purpose: science-related events, research and awards. It has never been used,” spokeswoman Megan Rowley said.
The donations amounted to approximately $19 million, worth approximately $31 million in late 2021, the latest available accounting, as investment funds for the institution’s endowment. Universities that accepted Sackler’s funding, including Tufts and Brown, reallocated some of the funding to addiction prevention and treatment efforts.
Members of the Sackler family, active in running Purdue Pharma, began donating to the National Academy of Sciences in 2008. Funding was used to sponsor forums and research.
In 2015, the family Donating $10 million to launch the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Prize in Convergence Research, according to a report by the organization’s accounting. Dr. Sackler and Mrs. Sackler died in his 2017 and his 2019. An attorney for the family said these donations “had absolutely nothing to do with pain, medicine, or anything related to the company.”
Dame Jillian Sackler, who lost her husband Arthur years before OxyContin hit the market, began donating to the Academy in 2000 and has donated $5 million by 2017, Academies report shows. increase.
The day after the Times report was published, the National Academy made a statement It said it was considering returning or diverting the funds. “Doing this in an ethical and transparent manner will be the most important consideration,” the organization said.
The perceived lack of urgency in the statement helped prompt a new letter from Academy members. “It’s not the way we read it,” Dr. Hauser said.
He added:
