Mallinckrodt on Monday disclosed that it faces a grand jury subpoena over sales of controlled substances as it filed for bankruptcy for the second time in three years to reduce by roughly $1 billion its prior pledge to pay compensation for its alleged role in the opioid crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported. Mallinckrodt said that it received the subpoena from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia last week, seeking data and information dating back to 2017 about the company’s reporting of suspicious controlled substances orders, chargebacks and other transactions, as well as communications between the company and the Drug Enforcement Administration regarding those issues. The company said that it is in the process of responding to the subpoena and intends to cooperate in the investigation. It said it believes it is in compliance with its obligations through its compliance program for controlled substances. Mallinckrodt’s disclosure of the subpoena came at the same time that it announced it has initiated chapter 11 proceedings Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, with a plan to hand control to its lenders and cut its outstanding payments to a compensation trust for opioid victims.
