Glasgow University Conceals the Names of Affluent Benefactors from a Research Unit

A Scottish university caved to criticism and removed the names of rich American patrons from a research center after the family was accused of fueling a pharmaceutical disaster that resulted in more than 400,000 fatalities in the United States.The Sackler name has been taken off the neurosciences building of the city’s NHS flagship Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, according to Glasgow University.

The sign, which was still up on Friday morning, was taken down days after we reported on growing pressure from activists and the NHS. The sign has been removed, according to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, which added, “This is something we were supportive of.”

The extremely addictive painkiller OxyContin, which was illegally sold in the US as safer than other medications by the family pharmaceutical business Purdue, earned an estimated $8 billion.After receiving billions of dollars in generous gifts, institutions all around the world have deleted the Sackler name, which was frequently contingent on prominently displaying the family name. Campaigners have called for the universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh to dissolve links, but they have refused.

The Glasgow University website still includes a nice biography of Mortimer Sackler, and the university has no intentions to revoke the late Purdue co-honorary founder’s degree. The Sackler Centre for Developmental Psychobiology, which was partially sponsored by the family, will not be renamed, according to Edinburgh University.

“It is horrible to see the Sackler name tied to anything related with the quest of medical excellence, no matter how much money they offer,” said Aamer Anwar, a human rights lawyer and former rector of Glasgow University. The unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands of people due to addiction and overdose should be the last thing any teaching hospital or institution wants to be linked with.”