A New York Attorney General secured up to $58.5 million from Mallinckrodt plc, which is one of the largest drug manufacturers of opioids in the country, over its role in fueling the opioid crisis.
It is only the second agreement between the AG and Mallinckrodt over the harm caused to the New Yorkers. Earlier, Mallinckrodt was charged $26.8 million to be paid for the Medicaid fraud.
The AG stated that Mallinckrodt is accountable for pumping millions of addictive and harmful opioid pills into communities, causing the crisis across the country. The growing profit of the company eventually fueled the crisis resulting in growing addiction issues and loss of lives. Although the effect of the crisis cannot be reversed, the funds received from the settlement would help New York to deal with the opioid crisis.
In March 2019, the AG filed a lawsuit against Mallinckrodt after its move to enter into bankruptcy. The lawsuit alleged that the company used deceptive and misleading marketing strategies to boost the sales and use of highly addictive opioids that have harmed the huge population of the country.
Mallinckrodt now has 18 months to decide if it would prepay claims worth approximately $41.1 million or pay the state $58.5 million over eight years for fueling the opioid crisis.
Five drug manufacturers will settle the claims made by the AG for their role in the opioid crisis, and Mallinckrodt is one of them. Other manufacturers involved in the lawsuit are Purdue Pharma and its affiliates along with the Sackler family, Janssen Pharmaceuticals and its affiliates along with its parent company Johnson & Johnson, Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. and its affiliates; and Allergan Finance, LLC and its affiliates. McKesson Corporation, Cardinal Health Inc., Amerisource Bergen Drug Corporation, and Rochester Drug Cooperative Inc. are the distributors involved in the lawsuit.
