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Governor Andrew Cuomo said the charges brought by the state’s Department of Financial Services are the first against a major opioid manufacturer in that regulator’s probe into entities that contributed toward the nationwide opioid crisis.
Mallinckrodt was accused of overstating the benefits of long-term opioid treatment, downplaying the risks of addiction and abuse, and knowing its conduct would result in the payment of insurance claims on unnecessary opioid prescriptions.
A spokesman for Mallinckrodt did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company is headquartered in Staines-Upon-Thames in Britain, and has U.S. offices in Missouri and New Jersey.
Cuomo called Mallinckrodt “the most prolific manufacturer” of opioid pills in New York, supplying about 5 million policyholders with more than 1 billion pills from 2009 to 2019.
Mallinckrodt was charged with violating two New York insurance laws, each of which carries penalties of up to $5,000 per violation, Cuomo said.
In afternoon trading, Mallinckrodt shares were down 22 cents, or 6.3%, at $3.25.
