Inside the opioid sales machine of Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals

The largest manufacturer of opioids in the United States once cultivated a reliable stable of hundreds of doctors it could count on to write a steady stream of prescriptions for pain pills. More than a quarter of top prescribers ranked by Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals during the height of the pain pill epidemic, in 2013, were later convicted of crimes related to their medical practices, had their medical licenses suspended or revoked, or paid state and federal fines after being accused of wrongdoing. The documents, made public after years of litigation and bankruptcy proceedings, shed new light on how aggressively Mallinckrodt sought to increase its market share as the epidemic was raging.