Representatives of the Sackler family, who became multibillionaires by selling OxyContin widely held responsible for creating the US opioid epidemic which has claimed more than 500,000 lives, did nothing to damp down public hostility when two of the extended and extensive family turned up this week at a US congressional committee. Apologies and acknowledgements of wrongdoing were not forthcoming which prompted infuriated members of Congress to liken the Sacklers to the Mexican drug cartel leader, El Chapo, and the multi-billion dollar fraudster, Bernie Madoff. One congressman said he thought they were possibly the most evil family in America.
A previous post with detail on the founders is at September 16 2019.
In the late 1990s Dr. Richard Sackler, senior vice president and then president of Purdue Pharma, aggressively pushed back, when concerns started to become public, according to newly unsealed documents. He said a robust response was in order insisting that oxycontin was “less prone to addiction potential, abuse or diversion” than other opioid pain pills. https://www.statnews.com/2019/12/02/purdue-richard-sackler-proposed-plan-play-down-oxycontin-risks/
Purdue Pharma continued to market and sell opioids as late as 2019 and then faced with a mountain of lawsuits filed for bankruptcy in September 2019. In October 2019 the privately owned company reached a settlement of around $8.3bn, admitting that it “knowingly and intentionally conspired and agreed with others to aid and abet” doctors dispensing medication “without a legitimate medical purpose”.
What is intriguing from an astrological point of view is the proliferation of Uranus Neptune across most of the available charts. The founder Arthur and one of the early trio of brothers were born on the Uranus opposition Neptune. The company LLP of 14 June 1991 was on the Uranus Neptune conjunction in Capricorn.
Richard Sackler, 10 March 1945, the more recent face of the company over its horror period is a Sun Mercury in Pisces in an expansive opposition to Jupiter in Virgo. There is not much notable without a birth time except that his Pluto sits exactly on the midpoint of a Uranus trine Neptune, with his Jupiter semi-square his Uranus/Neptune midpoint as well. The third brother of the original founders also has his Pluto semi-square his Uranus/Neptune midpoint.
One of the meanings Ebertin ascribes to Uranus Neptune is ‘elimination of waking consciousness’ and ‘apoplexy of the brain’ as well as instability, confused psychic states, lack of emotional balance. And the Sacklers dreamed up the drug which did all that and made themselves obscenely rich messing with other people’s heads.
There are notably aggressive Mars across various of the charts as well.
The Sackler Museum (part of the Smithsonian) was founded in 1987, long before OxyContin was marketed. Weren’t they the ones who marketed Valium in the US? They perfected addiction marketing.
There was a lot of complicity is this problem — doctors, pain societies. Congress had many chances to stop it and many warnings it was a problem before it was too late.
Sackler played totally into the American society that looks for “drug” solutions to handle the ups and downs of life. There’s a cultural problem we must address if we’re not going to repeat this cycle again and again. Why does the US and Canada have 50% of the world’s drug users?
We need to look beyond just blaming the Sacklers, although I’m glad they’ll get their comeuppance.
Oopss..sorry he is having Pluto square Moon.
Uranus VII (law) square MC/Neptune square Mercury (bad timing).
Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera (born 4 April 1957 in Badiraguato, Mexico (birth time and city source: Sy Scholfield, birth certificate) birth time 12:00 am.
Asc 12 Capricorn (ambitious) – Neptun o/ MC (drug) – Pluto VIII square Mars/Mars opp Saturn.
A horrible form of ‘demonic possession’ and so very easily manipulated by those who would attempt to gain control of the World? And that Wake Up Call being lost in a Mind Fog, by so many.
Now tell us about how the crack epidemic was unleashed on the Black community (messing with the community’s lives and heads as well), by the Bush administration to fund the U.S. involvement with a coup of the government and country of Nicaragua. The money from the drugs funded the purchase of firearms to arm the guerillas. Because of the mess made in Vietnam, Congress held tight to the financial purse strings, so the money had to come from somewhere. Truth is always stranger than fiction.
Thanks for this Marjorie.
Uranus Neptune in one of its physical manifestations is manufactured drugs/ man made opiods.
Science transforms the Dionysusian Neptunian pagan urges into socially acceptable soma for the masses, so reminiscent of the little pink pills of Valley of the Dolls.
Always interesting and really reliable. Thank you so much.