Mylan claims that middlemen and suppliers forced them to increase prices, but this past week two industry insiders challenged this claim and said that the company pays no more than $30 per EpiPen.
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Ms. Bresch – who ranked No. 23, one notch down from last year – has been roundly vilified in recent weeks as the head of the drug company that raised the price of the EpiPen allergy treatment some 500 percent in recent years, making it unaffordable for many who rely on the potentially life-saving device.
EpiPens are used to inject the lifesaving drug epinephrine to people with severe allergies.
A Mylan spokeswoman, Nina Devlin, had no immediate comment.
Bresch said lobbying is just one way the company has spent hundreds of millions “developing” the EpiPen since it acquired the patent in 2007.
She said the first time they got a prescription filled after the most recent price hike, it was “outrageous”.
Tuesday’s lawsuit was filed in the Court of Common Pleas for Hamilton County, Ohio, by Cincinnati resident Linda Bates, whose son requires an EpiPen. The most renowned example was Turing Pharmaceuticals’ 5,000% price hike for its antiparasitic drug, Daraprim, causing CEO Martin Shkreli to become the “most hated man in America”.
The rising cost of the device, which treats serious allergic reactions, has provoked an uproar in and outside the halls of Congress.
EpiPen maker Mylan did not respond to a request for comment, but a press release posted to their website said that – with insurance coverage, discounts, and coupons now offered by the company – almost 80 percent of patients got the device for no cost.
“It’s drug companies like this company who have no respect for our taxpayers, have no respect for the health care system and would rape people with these outrageous prices”, Sen.
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Now, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is asking questions about whether Mylan violated antitrust laws with its EpiPen4Schools program, a potential issue Stat News reported on in August. Kevin Deane, head of medical technologies for PA Consulting Group, a global technology and design firm that sold a drug delivery technology company to Pfizer in 2004, told NBC News that the base components for each EpiPen, including the plastic cap, tube, and needle, might cost between $2 to $4 to purchase.
