Portrait Gallery rejects £1m gift after painkiller drugs row
THE National Portrait Gallery has given up a £1million donation from a familyrun trust whose pharmaceutical firm makes a controversial drug.
The charitable Sackler Trust – which has given millions to arts institutions across London – wanted to stop the issue from becoming a ‘distraction’ for the gallery.
Both the Trust and the gallery have now made a mutual decision to withdraw the grant. The multibillionaire family has a controlling interest in Purdue Pharma, a US firm that makes the addictive painkiller OxyContin.
It has been claimed the opioid drug causes 100 deaths a day in the US and the Sacklers are said to have earned billions from producing the drug. Their donation, which had not yet been paid, was initially pledged to the gallery in 2016 to help fund the £3 . million ‘Inspiring People’ project. The cash would have helped pay for a new entrance for the National Portrait Gallery, as well as an education centre and a redevelopment of the gallery’s permanent collection.
The Sackler Trust was founded by Dame Theresa Sackler, the widow of Mortimer Sackler. The family’s links to the opioid industry has sparked criticism from members of the art world.
Denying any link between the family and the deadly US opioid crisis, a spokesman for the Trust said last night that ‘to avoid being a distraction for the NPG, we have decided not to proceed at this time with the donation’.
A spokesman for the National Portrait Gallery added: ‘We fully respect and support the Sackler family’s decision.’