Dive Brief:
- Mylan pharmaceutical executives are slated to testify before the House Oversight Committee next Wednesday over the company's wildly controversial EpiPen price increases.
- Although the product's more than 400% price increase had been made incrementally since 2007, raising the price for a two-pack from $100 to $608, consumers finally revolted this year through an epic social media campaign that has resulted in a national news scandal and scrutiny from federal officials.
- Among those slated to testify is Mylan's chief executive, Heather Bresch, who happens to be the daughter of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV).
Dive Insight:
The whole debacle for Mylan, which has been framed in the issue as the poster-company for price-gouging, could serve as a catalyst for changes including stronger industry oversight.
Mylan's argument that the company expected insurers to bear the bulk of the price increase has done little to appease critics, and was perhaps particularly doomed to fail in the post-ACA age of increased consumer healthcare awareness, and insurance trends that are placing a greater portion of costs on the shoulders of enrollees.
"There is justified outrage from families and schools across the country struggling to afford the high cost of EpiPens,” committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and ranking Democrat Elijah E. Cummings (Md.) said in a prepared statement.
The pair said they will be looking for answers from Mylan about the reasoning behind its price hike, and will be considering how to encourage competition against the EpiPen and to speed FDA approval of alternatives.
The EpiPen issue could also have a bearing on Democrats' calls for wider-reaching industry changes, such as letting Medicare negotiate drug prices.
Federal regulators are also reported to be examining the Mylan's pricing practices after debate emerged whether it was proper for the company to classify the EpiPen as generic under the Medicaid rebate program--a question that has raised further implications about government oversight.