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AP Exclusive: Colleges got $60M-plus from OxyContin family

In this Sept. 26, 2019, photo, cars pass Rockefeller University in New York. Prestigious universities around the world, including Rockefeller, have accepted at least $60 million over the past five years from the family that owns the maker of OxyContin, even as the company became embroiled in lawsuits related to the opioid epidemic, financial records show. Rockefeller accepted more money from the Sacklers than any other school in recent history. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) The Associated Press

In this Sept. 25, 2019, photo, passers-by walk near an entrance to Tufts School of Medicine in Boston. Some universitiesâ ties to the Sackler family have come under fire recently, including in a 2018 lawsuit from the Massachusetts attorney general arguing that Purdue Pharma used its influence at Tufts University and other schools to promote opioids. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) The Associated Press

In this Sept. 26, 2019, photo, people pass the Weill Cornell Medicine center in New York. Prestigious universities around the world, including Cornell University, have accepted at least $60 million from the family that owns OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma over the past five years, even as the company has been embroiled in lawsuits over its role in the opioid epidemic, according to tax and charity records reviewed by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) The Associated Press

FILE - In this Sept. 3, 2017, file photo, people walk around Oxford University's campus in Oxford, England. Tax and charity records show that prestigious universities around the world, including Oxford, have accepted at least $60 million from the family that owns OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma over the past five years, even as the company has been embroiled in lawsuits over its role in the opioid epidemic. (AP Photo/Caroline Spiezio, File) The Associated Press

In this Sept. 25, 2019, photo, people rest on grass while reading at Brown University in Providence, R.I. Tax and charity records show that prestigious universities around the world, including Brown, have accepted at least $60 million from the family that owns OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma over the past five years, even as the company has been embroiled in lawsuits over its role in the opioid epidemic. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) The Associated Press

Posted October 03, 2019 7:00 am

By COLLIN BINKLEY and JENNIFER McDERMOTT

BOSTON (AP) - Prestigious universities around the world have accepted at least $60 million from the family that owns OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma over the past five years.

Thatâ€™s according to financial records reviewed by The Associated Press.

Schools have accepted the donations even as the company has become embroiled in lawsuits over its role in the opioid epidemic. Major beneficiaries of the Sackler family include the University of Oxford in England and Rockefeller, Cornell and Columbia universities in New York.

In total, at least two dozen universities have received gifts from the family since 2013. The gifts ranged from $25,000 to more than $10 million.

Some skeptics see the donations as an attempt to salvage the familyâ€™s reputation and want to see the money returned.

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