A New Jersey drugmaker ensnared in the fallout from America's opioid crisis is seeking bankruptcy protection. Mallinckrodt said Monday that it had begun Chapter 11 proceedings to restructure debt and resolve “several billion dollars of otherwise unmanageable potential legal liabilities.”The drugmaker, one of the highest-volume opioid producers in the U.S.
at the height of the nation’s prescription drug crisis, announced in February a tentative $1.6 billion settlement to avert hundreds of lawsuits.
It said Monday that it plans to amend the settlement as it restructures. Under the proposed settlement, opioid claims would be channeled to trusts that receive $1.6 billion in structured payments.