Some call this karma, others are call it justice. It’s seems the owners of big pharma Mylan and its CEO Heather Bresch are experiencing a bit of both. The makers of the life-saving EpiPen are under massive scrutiny that seems to get worse each day.
In August, word got out on social media that Mylan had jacked up the price of EpiPens 400% making it unaffordable to many — even with insurance. The big problem with this, besides the fact that price-gouging is wrong and in some cases illegal, is that children and adults with allergic conditions can die. And when their throats close, and thus their air passages close they can and too often do suffocate to death.
At first the news went viral on social media. Then the Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton announced she has created a plan to regulate big pharma from price gouging. Celebrities began chiming in, and on Tuesday the New York Attorney General’s office announced they would be conducting a Mylan investigation for anti-trust violations. Now, on Thursday, The Hill reports that the The House Oversight Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee have also opened an inquiry. Not a good month for Mylan’s CEO Heather Bresch whose compensation surpasses $18 million. So there’s that.
“The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has opened a preliminary inquiry concerning Mylan Pharmaceuticals’ pricing and competition practices with respect to the EpiPen,” the committee said Wednesday. “Our review of this matter will be robust, thorough, and bipartisan. Parents and school districts in Ohio, Missouri and across the country need affordable access to this life-saving drug, and we share their concern over Mylan’s sustained price increases.”
This is good news. But the government cannot stop here. Milan is only one of the many pharmaceutical companies price-gouging people in need. The three major drug companies that produce insulin in the U.S.—Sanofi, Eli Lilly, and Novo Nordisk—seem to have also hiked their drug price to a point where people can’t afford it and are ending up in ER, and some never go home.
That can we the general public do? We can take action by speaking out about our own experiences with high-priced medications and pharmaceutical companies, share stories on social media, contact our Congress members—especially now during election year, and sign petitions. Below is one petition you can sign.