Hooked, line and Sackler

OxyContin was once hailed as a miracle drug for pain relief. But in recent times, it has become synonymous with the opioid epidemic that has killed tens of thousands of people in the US. And now the family of billionaires who created it are under legal scrutiny like never before

OxyContin: once hailed as a medical miracle, its overuse has now been associated by some with the epidemic of opioid addiction in the US

Until very recently, the Sackler family were the US’s least-known billionaire dynasty – which was precisely how they liked it. They’re much richer than the American families you hear a lot more about: richer than the Rockefellers, the Vanderbilts, the Kardashians and most certainly the Trumps. Like the Trumps, they have magnificent homes, private planes and properties all over the world. Unlike the Trumps, they are world-class philanthropists. They have received knighthoods, damehoods ...