If this doesn’t reek of crony capitalism nothing does.
Drug maker Mylan has come under fire for an enormous 400 percent hike in the price of its life-saving EpiPen allergy reaction medication and at the very center of the storm is the daughter of a Democrat U.S. Senator from West Virginia.
Big Pharma company Mylan decided to hike the price of the emergency allergy treatment from about $100 a dose to a whopping $600 per dose causing millions of patients who rely on the medication to cry foul. There doesn’t seem to be any obvious reason for the price hike as the actual cost of the medicine is around $2 a dose and that cost hasn’t much changed over the last eight years, according to Ed Morrissey. Naturally people who rely on the device to deliver a life-saving dose of medication during an allergic reaction are outraged.
The price hike, while massive, is not without precedent. Mylan had been hiking the price of the EpiPen in smaller increments since it bought the rights to the device in 2007. But this newest price jump is far, far larger than previous hikes.
What was also much larger, was Mylan CEO Heather Bresch’s 671 percent salary increase that went from a mere $2,453,456 annually to a whopping $18,931,068, NBC News reported.
NBC reported:
After Mylan acquired EpiPen the company also amped up its lobbying efforts. In 2008, its reported spending on lobbying went from $270,000 to $1.2 million, according to opensecrets.org.
Legislation that enhanced its bottom line followed, with the FDA changing its recommendations in 2010 that two EpiPens be sold in a package instead of one and that they be prescribed for at-risk patients, not just those with confirmed allergies. And in 2013 the government passed a law to give block grants to states that required they be stocked in public schools.
Unsurprisingly, there is an even deeper political connection to the growing scandal.  The CEO at the heart of the controversy also happens to be the daughter of Democrat U.S. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia. As these things go, Mylan’s special political committee made big contributions to Daddy Joe Manchin’s campaign, as CNBC reports.
How convenient for the powerful few and well-connected.
But that isn’t the end of what should raise eyebrows about Bresch. Last year, she weathered a storm that erupted after it was discovered she claimed to have earned an MBA from West Virginia University when it turned out that she never really did earn that degree. Worse, it was found that the college had altered records to make it seem as if she did have such a degree. It was later learned that even as officials were busy falsifying her records the university’s president was a former lobbyist for her drug company and a high school classmate of hers.
Several college officials eventually lost their jobs after the news broke but Bresch kept her high-dollar job at Mylan.
Without a doubt people are incensed about the price hike that puts thousands, many of them children, at risk. Â Unfortunately it is the government, including Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton along with some in Congress, who are vowing to get to the bottom of the price hikes.
Indeed, many have expressed outrage:
Consumer advocate Ralph Nader on EpiPen controversy: “Basically this is greed on steroids.” https://t.co/7x8N63dvR7 pic.twitter.com/kj0hw9DrID
— CNBC (@CNBC) August 25, 2016
Daughter of @Sen_JoeManchin price gouged EpiPen.
Weird how none of the Democrats mentioned that during testimony? pic.twitter.com/P46ZqafIZz
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 25, 2016
EpiPens save lives. If they cost too much, kids will die. https://t.co/pRTTLdiRlG
— Amy Joyce (@amyjoyce_berg) August 25, 2016
@NPR pic.twitter.com/IvQ98qLIWM
— infantry1 (@SSE_TV) August 25, 2016
>Give money to sick Clinton foundation
>EpiPen mandated in all schools
>Get 671% raise.
>Be a Democrathttps://t.co/Yx9UeP0kJc— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) August 25, 2016
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