EpiPen, opioids say a lot about drug industry — and Congress
The twin sagas of EpiPens and prescription opioids are symbolic of twin national problems. There is a troubling disconnect between the pharmaceutical industry and the people who depend on its products — and there are troubling connections between the industry and politicians who are supposed to represent the people.
America remains outraged at the story of the EpiPen, a simple, lifesaving device that has jumped in price more than 500 percent since it was acquired by Mylan in 2007.
Mylan CEO Heather Bresch defended her company’s pricing before a congressional committee Wednesday, where she faced questioning about:
Her company’s price increase for a two-pack of EpiPens from $100 in 2009 to $608 today.
Her salary: $18.9 million in total compensation in 2015, which she correctly said is not excessive for the industry.
Her company’s tax-saving incorporation in the Netherlands last year while conveniently maintaining offices in Pennsylvania.
Her mother’s role in promoting use of EpiPens in schools.
As reported by USA TODAY, Bresch’s mother, Gayle Manchin, became president of the National Association of State Boards of Education in 2013, a few years after being appointed to the West Virginia Board of Education by her husband, then-Gov. and current Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat.
Mother Manchin engaged in what USA TODAY called an “unprecedented effort” to get schools to purchase epinephrine auto-injectors, aka EpiPens.
Her enthusiasm for her daughter’s product led to state and federal laws requiring or encouraging schools to have the devices. That was before the price skyrocketed. Yes, it stinks. In addition to Congress’ questions, Mylan faces an antitrust investigation by New York’s attorney general. After criticism, Mylan said it will offer a generic version of EpiPen for $300.
Members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee gave a rousing display of high dudgeon while questioning Bresch but offered little new in the way of solutions.
One suggestion was to safely speed up the Food and Drug Administration’s process of approving competing drugs. Another is to lift Congress’ 2003 ban on negotiating drug prices for Medicare patients. Both are good ideas. Neither is new. In the land of free enterprise, regulating prices is a tough sell. Yet the public deserves protection from price-gouging — especially when the product is necessary to save lives.
The same House committee previously raised questions about pharmaceutical CEO salaries and excessive price hikes, earning the label “imbeciles” by former Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli, who in February refused to answer questions about the price hike of the lifesaving drug Daraprim from $13.50 to $750.
There’s a troubling disconnect between the pharmaceutical industry and the people who need its products.
Now consider the other drug saga, which raises questions about whether Congress is more motivated to serve the people or the pharmaceutical industry.
A few key facts about prescription opioids:
The United States accounts for twothirds of the world’s consumption of prescription pain medicine.
Prescription opioid sales reached $9.6 billion last year.
Since 1999, more than 165,000 people have died of prescription opioid abuse.
A group called the Pain Care Forum, consisting of drug makers and affiliates, spent more than $740 million on lobbying politicians in Washington and state capitals between 2006 and 2015, according to the Center for Public Integrity and the Associated Press.
In 2012, the Pain Care Forum promoted congressional hearings on chronic pain and pain treatment to discuss a report about untreated pain that members of the forum had helped write, the AP found.
That same year, overdose deaths linked to prescription OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet were higher than fatalities from heroin and cocaine combined, according to the AP.
Recently, more attention has been paid to the epidemic of misuse of prescription pain medication.
But Americans need Congress to be a full-time, independent champion for their best interests.
The power of the pharmaceutical lobby and Congress’ failure to put forth meaningful solutions to price-gouging raise troubling questions about whether our lawmakers are ready to do the job.