Generic drug maker Mylan Pharmaceuticals faces dozens of questions from Senate Democrats in an eight-page letter questioning whether the company’s response to severe price hikes for EpiPens are nothing but a “complex shell game.”
The letter from 20 senators to Mylan’s CEO shows much skepticism from Democrats over Mylan’s latest move on Monday to sell a cheaper version of the Epipen, which now runs about $600 for a two-pack of the life-saving allergy treatment.
Democrats and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., want to know primarily whether the cheaper version, which Mylan bills is a generic version that costs $300, will be as readily available as the regular high-priced EpiPen.
“Once Mylan begins to sell an authorized generic version of EpiPen, what percent of epinephrine [the drug’s active ingredient] auto injector sales will be for the authorized generic versus the branded EpiPen,” the letter asked.
The senators also asked if Mylan will commit to not rationing the authorized generic or limit sales.
The letter also delves into other parts of Mylan’s response to the outcry over prices.
When news of the price hike that has systematically taken place since Mylan acquired EpiPen in 2007 prompted nationwide outrage, the company said it would offer a discount card that chopped $300 off the list price of $600. It also expanded the patient assistance program for the drug.
The lawmakers wrote to Mylan’s CEO that the discount program represents a “well-defined industry tactic to keep costs high through a complex shell game. When patients receive short-term co-pay assistance for expensive drugs, they may be insulated from price hikes, but insurance companies, the government and employers still bear the burden of these excessive prices.”
The high costs are then passed on to consumers through higher premiums, the letter added.
The senators asked about the average price that consumers had to pay for EpiPens after taking into account private insurance. The letter also asked how many customers will be helped by the latest bump in the discount savings card, which before used to only offer a $100 discount and not $300.
It also appears the discounted price of $300 is still too high for lawmakers.
The questions in the letter aren’t the only ones Mylan faces. On Monday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee made its own probe into the price increase.
