CHARLESTON – West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is urging the U.S. Department of Justice to reject a settlement that involves Medicaid reimbursements linked to the sale of the company’s EpiPen, calling it irresponsible.
Morrisey argues in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, that the $465 million settlement is “woefully deficient” and “irresponsible.”
“The $465 million figure represents a sweetheart deal for Mylan,” Morrisey said.
Morrisey alleges Mylan may owe as much as $700 million in the Nov. 1 letter.
“While Mylan executives and shareholders would be winners, it is a losing proposition for taxpayers who fund Medicaid and the countless families who rely on EpiPen and are beholden to Mylan’s skyrocketing greed,” he continued. “The people are fed up with such arrangements, and frankly, they should be. West Virginia deserves better.”
The letter alleges that Mylan underpaid Medicaid by marketing a brand drug, EpiPen, while paying reimbursements at the cheaper, generic drug rate.
Morrisey has been investigating the skyrocketing price of the EpiPen, a single-use epinephrine auto injector that Mylan acquired exclusive rights to market in 2007. It has become a must-have for counteracting effects of an allergic anaphylactic reaction.
The EpiPen’s price dramatically climbed from about $100 for a twin pack in 2009 to a current price tag in excess of $600.
Morrisey filed the nation’s first enforcement action against Mylan.
The Sept. 20 petition asked the court to enforce a subpoena associated with his investigation into Medicaid reimbursements and potential antitrust violations by the pharmaceutical manufacturer.
Mylan operates a manufacturing plant in Morgantown.
A copy of the letter was sent to West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Secretary Karen Bowling.