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The Sackler family is not the only group to profit

Dec. 7, 2017 by Paul Fletcher

The Sackler family is not the only group to profit from the opioid crisis. According to the Post, the Obama administration's opioid program has been criticized by many experts as a means of stopping the flow of opioids into the United States. In addition to using the federal government as a means of funneling money from drug dealers to the health care system, the administration is also trying to control the use of opioid painkillers for pain relief.

Since 2013, the pharmaceutical industry has tried to use a loophole in the law to give the drug companies more free reign to use their money to make up for the health care crisis, the Post reported.

The Times reported on the Sackler family's "expenses" in a 2014 report for Time. The report reported that the family paid $100,000 in 2013 to be paid to a consulting firm based in Washington State, based on a $4 million contract. The firm provided detailed accounts of the family's lifestyle and finances, said the report.

While the paper reports that the family is also using the law to help fund its own research into the drug's effects, the Times reported that the Sackler family is using the law to make up for the health care crisis. In the report, the family reportedly used the money to fund a $4.5 million study that looked into the effects of OxyContin.

The Times added to the story by pointing out that it does not name the companies or the research that it cited, noting that it has not been able to obtain any financial disclosure.

The family's charitable organization, the Society of Professional Journalists, said in a statement that "the Sacklers have donated $200,000 to the organization since 2001, and that the families of a few other family members have donated $1 million to the organization as well."

The New York Post noted that the family also gave money to a national organization that works to support people suffering from addiction—The American Medical Association's (AMA) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)—that is funded by a $1.8 million grant of the American Hospital Association, according to the paper.

The Times reported that the Sackler family is also using the law to fund its own research into the drug's effects. The study is being performed by SAMHSA, a nonprofit, private, nonprofit organization that provides legal services for patients with substance use disorders like heroin addiction.

The U.S. Department of Justice has released a damning review of the opioid crisis, concluding that it is "