Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals

Mallinckrodt's October 2020 bankruptcy was driven by $1.6 billion in opioid litigation settlements. The company manufactured 55% of America's opioid active ingredients and faced thousands of lawsuits from states, cities, and tribes. Beyond opioids, Mallinckrodt had overpaid for Questcor's Acthar Gel ($5.6 billion) - a drug with questionable efficacy maintained at monopoly prices through regulatory gaming. The company exemplified pharmaceutical industry dysfunction: pricing power extracted through regulatory capture, with social costs externalized to addiction victims.