Overview

Arthur Mitchell Sackler was an American psychiatrist; businessman; and philanthropist who is widely regarded as the architect of modern pharmaceutical marketing and the patriarch of the Sackler family dynasty. He pioneered the aggressive direct-to-physician marketing techniques that would later be used by his family's company Purdue Pharma to push OxyContin; fueling the opioid epidemic that has killed over 500;000 Americans. Sackler's most significant contribution to pharmaceutical marketing was his promotion of Valium for Hoffmann-La Roche in the 1960s; which he transformed from a niche sedative into the first $100 million drug through revolutionary advertising campaigns directed at physicians. He created the medical advertising firm William Douglas McAdams and pioneered the practice of using medical journals; "educational" seminars; and physician endorsements to market drugs; effectively creating the blueprint for pharmaceutical marketing that persists today. Although Arthur Sackler died in 1987 before OxyContin was developed; his brothers Mortimer and Raymond used his exact marketing playbook to aggressively push OxyContin starting in 1996; minimizing its addictive properties and targeting prescribers with misleading claims. The Sackler family donated billions from pharmaceutical profits to museums and universities worldwide; with their name prominently displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Louvre; the Guggenheim; and numerous other institutions. Following the opioid crisis; many of these institutions removed the Sackler name.

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Controversies & Concerns

Related Investigations (1)

Known Associates & Connections

Sources & Documentation

1 documented sources from official records, investigations, and reports