Steven Senne/AP Photo
A worker removes a sign that includes the name Arthur M. Sackler at an entrance to Tufts School of Medicine, December 5, 2019, in Boston.
Tufts University has belatedly decided to remove the Sackler name from its medical school and buildings, pointing out that the Sacklers’ behavior in promoting and profiting from the opioid epidemic is inconsistent with the school’s mission. The Sacklers’ feelings are hurt. Their lawyer sent the university a wounded letter, objecting that Tufts chose “to prioritize optics over a fair process.”
Optics! This is a family that hid some $10 billion in profits cynically gleaned from profound human suffering and is now proposing to settle all litigation for $3 billion, an offer rejected by attorneys general in 26 states. The family members belong in prison. If they want their name on a building, let them endow a cell.
If push comes to shove, and the Sacklers decide to sue Tufts, one would relish the jury trial. You can just imagine the Sacklers arguing that a prior agreement on naming rights in exchange for donations trumps the disgusting family behavior subsequently exposed. It’s hard to imagine a jury finding for the Sacklers.
Other universities, hospitals, concert halls, and museums should follow Tufts’s lead and strip off names of benefactors who turned out to be thugs. Let the bastards sue. The litigation would be terrific public education.
