Attorney General Ellison announces settlement with opioid manufacturer Mallinckrodt

Settlement with 50 states and territories, local subdivisions to include $1.6B in cash, end to marketing of opioids, and public disclosure of documents

October 12, 2020 (SAINT PAUL) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison today announced that Minnesota has joined a group of 50 states and territories, along with local subdivisions, in a global settlement framework with the opioid manufacturer Mallinckrodt (MNK), its subsidiaries, and other affiliates. The agreement settles Minnesota’s investigation into Mallinckrodt, currently the largest generic opioid manufacturer in the United States, for its opioid marketing and distribution practices.  

Under the settlement, MNK will pay $1.6 billion into a trust that will be disbursed over a period of seven years to all the states and jurisdictions once it emerges from bankruptcy. In addition, MNK will stop marketing its opioids and will put systems in place to prevent opioid misuse. Significantly, MNK will also publicly disclose internal documents that show how it misrepresented the risks and benefits of opioids and failed to curtail problematic orders for its opioid products, among other things.  

This is the second settlement that Minnesota has reached with a manufacturer of opioids. 

“No amount of money can make up for the destruction and death that opioid manufacturers and distributors caused in Minnesota,” Attorney General Ellison said. “This settlement is another step in holding them accountable. I’m especially pleased that we’ve won the public disclosure of millions of documents that will show how MNK misled the public about opioids and failed to stop suspicious opioid orders. All Minnesotans and all Americans deserve to know how these companies deceived them and knowingly led us into this deadly crisis, so that it can never happen again.” 

Details about how much each state will receive, how the money will be distributed, and how the trust will be administered are all still being negotiated.