Mallinckrodt Litigation Documents

  

Background

Founded in 1867 in St. Louis, Mo., Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals is a leading manufacturer of opioid painkillers. Its subsidiary, SpecGx, dominated the US market for generic opioids as addiction and overdose rates spiked across the nation. According to DEA records, the company provided nearly 40% of all opioid pills sold in US pharmacies between 2006-2012.

In 2011, Mallinckrodt came under investigation by the DEA for failing to meet its requirements to track and report suspicious orders of controlled substances. The company was a defendant in thousands of lawsuits filed by state and local governments, American Indian tribes, and individuals against the opioid industry. The plaintiffs accused the company of contributing to the deadly opioid crisis by trivializing addiction and failing to identify and report suspicious drug orders.

In October 2020, Mallinckrodt filed for bankruptcy in Delaware. A court-sanctioned agreement led to the release of 1.4 million documents produced by the company in the litigation (In re: Mallinckrodt plc, Case No. 20-12522-JTD (Bankr. D. Del. 2020).

Documents

Documents include: Email communications between sales representatives, physicians and other healthcare representatives; internal sales training materials, sales rep data, and compensation strategies; submissions to regulatory agencies regarding consumer guides, brochures, and prescribing information; graphics designs for product packaging and labeling; brochures and prescribing publications intended for physicians and the general public; advertisements and marketing materials; correspondence with physicians; and other internal documents.

Date Range: 1995-2019

Where to Start...

Access Mallinckrodt at a Glance in our Research Tools area for topic/subject guides, an annotated bibliography and a more in-depth overview of the documents.

Related Resources

• Kornfield, M., Higham, S., and Rich, S. (2022, May 10). Inside the sales machine of the ‘kingpin’ of opioid makers. The Washington Post.
• Kaplan, S., and Hoffman, J. (2020, Feb 25.) Mallinckrodt Reaches $1.6 Billion Deal to Settle Opioid Lawsuits. The New York Times.
• Mast, J. (2020, Oct 12). Drowning in litigation, Mallinckrodt becomes third opioid producer to file for bankruptcy. Endpoints News.
• Isidore, C. (2020, Oct 12). Opioid maker Mallinckrodt files for bankruptcy. CNN Business.
• Office of the Minnesota Attorney General. (2020, Oct 12). Attorney General Ellison announces settlement with opioid manufacturer Mallinckrodt.
• Davis, A.C., Boburg, S., and O'Harrow Jr., R. (2019, July 27). Little-known makers of generic drugs played central role in opioid crisis, records show. The Washington Post.