Clinton calls for EpiPen maker to lower price

Hillary Clinton is calling on the manufacturer of EpiPens to immediately reduce the cost of the device as an uproar builds over the recent price hike for the emergency allergy treatment. 

{mosads} “Since there is no apparent justification in this case, I am calling on Mylan to immediately reduce the price of EpiPens,” Clinton said in a statement. 

Clinton denounced the 400 percent increase in the cost of the device, which treats serious allergic reactions, in recent years.

“That’s outrageous — and it’s just the latest troubling example of a company taking advantage of its consumers,” Clinton said. “I believe that our pharmaceutical and biotech industries can be an incredible source of American innovation, giving us revolutionary treatments for debilitating diseases.  But it’s wrong when drug companies put profits ahead of patients, raising prices without justifying the value behind them. “

Clinton has made fighting high drug prices, and calling out pharmaceutical companies, a major part of her campaign.

She has called for proposals like allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices and requiring drug companies to invest a certain amount of revenue in research or pay rebates.

Clinton is one of the most prominent voices to call out Mylan, the maker of EpiPens, in recent days. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), her former opponent for the Democratic presidential nomination, spoke of the company in even harsher terms on Twitter, saying “Mylan’s greed is apparently limitless.”

White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Wednesday said he wouldn’t “second-guess the pricing strategy or the business practices” of the EpiPen manufacturer. 

However, he noted that such companies “often do real damage to their reputation by being greedy and jacking up prices in a way that victimizes vulnerable Americans.”

“I think it raises significant questions, even moral questions, in the minds of a lot of people,” Earnest said. 

“One of the goals of the Obama administration has been to limit the growth and healthcare costs, including trying to limit the costs of prescription drugs,” he said.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has sent a letter to the company asking for an explanation. 

Jesse Byrnes contributed.

– Updated at 2:13 p.m.