In the letter they note that in response to public concern about the rising cost of the EpiPen, Mylan has expanded its current accessibility programs – including increasing the maximum value of its savings card from $100 to $300 – although the company would not reduce the EpiPen’s sticker price. The cost of prescription drugs has increased 38 percent in the last 10 years, compared to an 18 percent increase in general inflation, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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With just one competitor, Mylan has a near monopoly on the device.
Bresch has said the company only receives $274 of the total price for a twin-package while pharmacies and other middlemen divvy up the rest.
“There is no doubt, that they are aggressively managing their tax situations”, said Robert Willens, an independent tax expert.
Last week, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota called for a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing and asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate possible antitrust violations by Mylan, which raised the price of a two-pack of its EpiPen product from $100 in 2008 to $500 to $600 in 2016.
In the meantime, U.S. Sen. Mylan has struggled to contain the controversy.
“Instead of a real solution to make sure people with severe allergies have access to life-saving EpiPens, this announcement from Mylan CEO Heather Bresch is an attempt at a quick PR fix”.
Political figures, like Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders are also up in arms about the attempt by Mylan to quell the backlash through the generic version. Because the United States Congress let them. Although Mylan could have filed a Citizen Petition in 2012 or earlier, the company waited until January 2015. “What’s patriotic is making this country a place that allows you to thrive, grow your industry versus handcuffing you and making you a sitting target” to be acquired, Bresch, the company’s chief executive, said to Bloomberg in November 2014. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., questioned those strategies.
A fairer, more robust market for generics would help to keep drug costs at something approaching a reasonable level.
In other words, this is one more, big old scam – yet another case of big business trying to pull the wool over the citizens’ eyes and pick our pockets while the government and our politicians mostly look the other way. He says the company made contributions to Wisconsin legislators. “It is frustrating that it costs so much money”, said Hannan. The Obama administration has taken repeated steps to make inversions less profitable, including establishing rules that were credited with dashing Pfizer’s deal to merge with Botox maker Allergen and move its headquarters to Ireland. Some patients can cut costs even more by filling manual syringes with epinephrine themselves, but this can be a tricky process and must be done with extreme care.
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On Monday, the company announced a generic version of the EpiPen, the device that makes it easy to inject epinephrine into people undergoing severe allergic reactions.
