We all want to thank Mallinckrodt for almost 30 years of support. This wonderful company provided support from the beginning of the newsletter, which first came out in 1992 during the dark days for methadone and opioid treatment programs. At the time, the late Stewart B. Leavitt, Ph.D., with funding what was then called Mallinckrodt Specialty Chemicals Company, helped provide accurate information as well as enthusiasm for treatment, patients, and providers through the pages of AT Forum.
Fast forward to October 12, 2020. Mallinckrodt, facing company-destroying lawsuits from states and others, filed Chapter 11, a bankruptcy to seek protection from its creditors. The company, which has always put patients first, will continue to provide medications to patients and customers. That part of the business will not be affected.
But its support for AT Forum has ended.
The Dublin-based company initiated bankruptcy proceedings to “resolve several billion dollars of otherwise unmanageable potential legal liabilities,” according to the company’s press release announcing the restructuring. Mallinckrodt has more than $650 million cash which, together with cash from ongoing operations, will “provide ample liquidity to support continued operations during the court-supervised process,” according to the press release.
This is the second recent loss to the newsletter in the past year. Publisher Sue Emerson, who was there from the beginning of AT Forum and well known to the field, died last year after a short illness (https://atforum.com/2019/06/susan-caille-emerson-1951-2019/). As the new publisher, and a close friend of Sue’s, Joy took over afterward, and is shepherding the newsletter through this difficult time (https://atforum.com/about/).
The rest of us: designer Kristine Teague and writers Barbara Goodheart and Alison Knopf, join Joy in thanking Mallinckrodt, including Dan Alexander, for its support, and for continuing to be there for opioid use disorder patients and customers.
As for AT Forum, we are still here as well, providing information for patients, providers, and anyone else who wants to read through the valuable archives, news updates, past issues, and current articles.
We value any and all suggestions for continuing to move forward.
Joy, Kristine, Barbara, Alison