Tate galleries won't accept donations from Sackler family

LONDON – Britain's Tate group of galleries won't accept future donations from the charitable arm of a family embroiled in the U.S. opioid crisis.

The Tate says the Sackler family has given generously in the past but under "the present circumstances we do not think it right to seek or accept further donations."

Members of the Sackler family own Stamford, Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma, maker of the prescription painkiller OxyContin. Purdue has been criticized for downplaying the addictiveness of OxyContin, but the company says its products were approved by regulators and prescribed by doctors.

The statement marks the second time this week that a British museum has shunned money from the Sackler Trust. The National Portrait Gallery and the trust issued a statement Tuesday saying a 1 million-pound ($1.3 million) donation wouldn't proceed.