The British Museum says it will remove the Sackler name from galleries, rooms and endowments following the lead of other cultural institutions that have cut relations with the American family that is synonymous with the opioid crisis linked to more than half a million deaths in the US.

The Sackler name has been removed in recent years from wings and galleries at institutions including the Louvre in Paris and the Serpentine Gallery in London as a result of global outrage over the role the family played in crisis, as founders/ owners of the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma, maker of the drug OxyContin, a widely prescribed and widely abused painkiller.

The British Museum said it had mutually agreed on the move with trustees of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Foundation, which has supported the museum for more than 30 years.

“The British Museum is grateful for the Foundation’s past support, and the Trustees appreciate their co-operation in coming to this agreement as we now move the museum into a new era and present our incredible collections in different ways for new audiences,” museum Chairman George Osborne said in a statement.

Purdue Pharma has faced a barrage of lawsuits alleging that it helped spark an addiction and overdose crisis linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the US over the past two decades.

The museum said it is developing a new master plan, making this is a “timely opportunity” for the change.

Observers say the loss of funding support from the Sacklers will be significant to the museum, but positive PR for its stance may make overall gains with the public.