Mylan CEO Infuriates Lawmakers At Hearing On EpiPen Costs

Mylan NV’s chief executive officer faced skeptical lawmakers Wednesday as the House’s Oversight Committee questioned her honesty, ethics and $19 million pay package during a hearing examining how the company raised prices on its EpiPen allergy shot.

While Bresch’s reported compensation fell to $18.9 million a year ago from $25.8 million in 2014, proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. noted that Mylan paid two CEO-level packages since Executive Chairman Robert Coury received $17.7 million.

She said she wished Mylan had “better anticipated” the problems patients would face, as the company ratcheted up the cost of the device that stops life-threatening allergic reactions. Chaffetz “was followed by Maryland Representative Elijah Cummings, the panel’s top Democrat, who accused the drugmaker of taking advantage of the us health-care system”.

Republican Elijah Cummings told her that the pricing allows the company “to get filthy rich at the expense of our constituents” at the House Oversight Committee hearing.

“People are afraid that this epinephrine is not going to be in reach when a young child suddenly needs it”, said Chaffetz. She blamed the “complexity” of the health-care system for making it appear like Mylan reaps huge profits on EpiPen. Bresch was awarded $19.4 million in pay past year, which made her the 25th-best paid executive in the health-care industry, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. She did not apologize to lawmakers for the treatment’s high price.

Rep. John Duncan of Tennessee, who describes himself as a pro-business Republican, said he was “sickened” by the greed at Mylan.

“You get what you deserve”, Mulvaney said.

Cummings predicted that despite all the questioning, little would change.

“Why did you lower it by half if you thought it was fair”, said Scott DesJarlais.

“After Mylan takes our punches they’ll fly back to their mansions in their private jets and laugh all the way to the bank”, Cummings said at the hearing. She said there is a misunderstanding about the profitability of the treatment, which is stocked by individuals and by many schools around the country and requires regular replacement when it expires. Democratic Rep. Eleanor Norton, a D.C. delegate, asked Bresch. Bresch said Mylan wasn’t getting every dollar of the price increases.

“If you really charge $600. why aren’t more people rushing in to make it?” “We never intended this”.

“I know there is considerable concern and skepticism about the pricing”, Bresch said. “She’s on the clock”.

The EpiPen controversy comes amid outrage over sharp increases in the prices of other drugs including the decision by Martin Shkreli’s Turing Pharmaceuticals to raise the price of Daraprim, a drug used by AIDS and cancer patients, from $13.50 to $750. “Show it to us”, he said.

The company, which is run from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, but is officially registered in the Netherlands after a so-called tax inversion, is facing multiple inquiries from lawmakers and law enforcement.

CBS News reviewed documents the company turned over to lawmakers. “It’s wrong when drug companies put profits ahead of patients, raising prices without justifying the value behind them”.

The list price of EpiPens has grown to $608 for a two-pack, an increase of more than 500 percent since 2007.

Looking directly at Bresch, he added, “I know it’s not your intention, but you may have helped Congress get around this issue by showing blatant disrespect for the people who need this medication”.

Bresch told the The Times West Virginian in a 2012 profile, after being named CEO, that she’d discovered in a “light-bulb” moment while working as Mylan’s government relations director that political advocacy was “where I could make a difference … whether it was states trying to fight generic substitution or all the tactics by brand companies to keep generic and affordable medicine off the market”. Currently, EpiPens are mandatory for public schools in at least 11 states.