New York’s attorney general has opened an investigation the pharmaceutical company that makes EpiPens.
“No child’s life should be put at risk because a parent, school or healthcare provider cannot afford a simple, life-saving device because of a drug-maker’s anti-competitive practices,” Eric Schneiderman said in a statement Tuesday.
{mosads}“If Mylan engaged in anti-competitive business practices, or violated antirust laws with the intent and effect of limiting lower cost competition, we will hold them accountable,” he added.
Schneiderman said his office is concerned Mylan, the maker of EpiPens, may have inserted anti-competitive terms into EpiPen sales contracts with local schools.
The EpiPen is a device that injects epinephrine as a treatment for serious allergic reactions.
Mylan has faced mounting criticism this summer over the EpiPen’s cost, which has risen 400 percent since 2007.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) wrote the company in late August demanding an explanation for the increase.
“The substantial price increase has caused significant concern among patients,” wrote Grassley, who is facing a reelection challenge this year.
“I have heard from one father in Iowa who recently purchased a refill of his daughter’s EpiPen prescription. He reported that to fill the prescription, he had to pay over $500 for one EpiPen.”
Mylan announced last month it would reduce the EpiPen’s price by providing saving cards worth up $300 for people who had been paying the full price out-of-pocket.
The pharmaceutical company’s move effectively reduced the cost of the life-saving tool by 50 percent.
Critics argued Mylan could go even further, prompting it to reveal plans for a cheaper, generic version of the EpiPen in late August.
That version of the product will cost $300 for a two-pack, Mylan said, less than half the current cost.
Hillary Clinton last week unveiled a plan to combat pricing spikes in drugs like the EpiPen.
Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, proposed a group of officials to determine and address price increases for drugs that have long been on the market.
Senate Democrats on Tuesday urged federal regulators to probe whether Mylan violated antitrust laws when it allegedly required schools to sign noncompete contracts.