There is a growing controversy surrounding the surging price of EpiPens, the auto-injector devices used to treat severe allergic reactions, and the media has finally discovered that a Democratic Senator’s daughter is at the center of it.
Adjusting for inflation, the price of EpiPens have increased 450% since 2004. They are only sold in packs of two and currently cost upwards of $600. The dramatic price hike, and the controversy surrounding the near-monopolisitc control that pharmaceutical company Mylan has over the EpiPen market, has been in the news for more than a month.
However, the media seems to have only recently caught on to the fact that Mylan’s CEO, Heather Bresch, is the daughter of Senator Joe Manchin (D., W. Va.). This could make things pretty awkward in the U.S. Senate, where several of Manchin’s colleagues are demanding answers from Mylan regarding the soaring price of EpiPens.
Senator Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote a letter to Bresch on Monday requesting information, noting that a number of his constituents have complained about rising costs. Senator Mark Warner (D., Va.) sent a similar letter on Tuesday.
“I am deeply concerned about this significant price increase for a product that has been on the market for more than three decades, and by Mylan’s failure to publicly explain the recent cost increase,” Warner wrote.
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) has asked the judiciary committee, as well as the Federal Trade Commission, to investigate the EpiPen price increases, while Senator Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) wrote a letter to Mylan demanding that the company reduce the cost of EpiPens.
Senator Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, took to Twitter and, without mentioning her name, issued a direct attack on his own colleague’s daughter.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton also weighed in on Tuesday, accusing Mylan of “taking advantage of its consumers.”
Bresch is no stranger to controversy. In 2007, it was reported that Bresch had been retroactively granted an MBA from the University of West Virginia despite not meeting the requirements for graduation. The controversy came to light after reporters sought to confirm the details listed in a press release announcing Bresch’s promotion to COO of Mylan.
A subsequent investigation revealed that university administrators had altered Bresch’s transcript with grades “pulled from thin air” because Bresch was considered a “high profile” individual. Joe Manchin was governor of the state at the time, but was not directly implicated in the scandal.