美国国家公共电台 NPR--Drugmaker Mallinckrodt may renege on $1.7 billion opioid settlement

Drugmaker Mallinckrodt may renege on $1.7 billion opioid settlement

Transcript²

The generic³ drugmaker Mallinckrodt says the company's board might not make a $200 million opioid settlement payment scheduled for later this week.

In a June 5 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the financially troubled firm said it faces growing questions internally and from creditors⁴ about the payout, which is part of a $1.7 billion opioid deal reached as part of a bankruptcy⁵ deal last year.

One possibility is that the company could file for a second bankruptcy, a move that could put the entire settlement at risk.

"It could be devastating," said Joseph Steinfeld, an attorney representing individuals harmed by Mallinckrodt's pain medications. "It potentially could wipe out the whole settlement."

According to Steinfeld, individual victims overall stand to lose roughly $170 million in total compensation. The rest of the money was slated⁶ to go to state and local governments to help fund drug treatment and health care programs.

The opioid crisis has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans, sparked first by prescription⁷ pain medications, then fueled by street drugs such as fentanyl and heroin⁸.

If Mallinckrodt files a second bankruptcy, payouts would likely go first to company executives, staff and other creditors, with opioid-related claims paid out last.

"Paying board members, paying the company professionals and paying non-victims is all well and good," Steinfeld said. "But it ignores the whole fact that the persons most harmed and the reason the company is in bankruptcy is because of the damage they've done" through opioid sales.

Katherine Scarpone stood to receive a payment in compensation after the death of her son Joe, a former Marine⁹ who suffered a fatal opioid overdose eight years ago.

She described this latest legal and financial setback¹⁰ as "disheartening."

"First there's the victim, right, who may lose their life and then there's the bankruptcy and going through all the painful stuff of filing and then to have all that blow up it really angers me," Scarpone told NPR.

Mallinckrodt is headquartered in Ireland and has U.S. corporate¹¹ offices in Missouri and New Jersey¹².

A company spokesperson contacted by NPR declined to comment about the matter beyond the SEC filing.

"On June 2, 2023, the board directed management and the company's advisors¹³ to continue analyzing¹⁴ various proposals," the firm said in its disclosure.

"There can be no assurance of the outcome of this process, including whether or not the company may make a filing in the near term or later under the U.S. bankruptcy code or analogous¹⁵ foreign bankruptcy or insolvency¹⁶ laws."

This financial maneuver¹⁷ by Mallinckrodt comes at a time when drugmakers, wholesalers and pharmacy¹⁸ chains involved in the prescription opioid crisis have agreed to pay out more than $50 billion in settlements.

Most of the firms involved in those deals are much larger and more financially stable than Mallinckrodt.

In late May, a federal appeals court approved another opioid-related bankruptcy deal valued at more than $6 billion involving Purdue Pharma, the maker¹ of Oxycontin.

1 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 generic   

adj.一般的，普通的，共有的

参考例句：

• I usually buy generic clothes instead of name brands.我通常买普通的衣服，不买名牌。
• The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary faculty for swallowing the individual.一般妇女在婚后似乎有特别突出的抑制个性的能力。

4 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

6 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

7 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

8 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

9 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

10 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

11 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

12 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

13 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

14 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

15 analogous   

adj.相似的；类似的

参考例句：

• The two situations are roughly analogous.两种情況大致相似。
• The company is in a position closely analogous to that of its main rival.该公司与主要竞争对手的处境极为相似。

16 insolvency   

n.无力偿付，破产

参考例句：

• The company is on the verge of insolvency.该公司快要破产了。
• Normal insolvency procedures should not be applied to banks.通常的破产程序不应当适用于银行。

17 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

18 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。