The CEO of the company that makes EpiPens spent Wednesday in hot seat before Congress amid allegations of price gouging. And necn Investigates has found complaints about the skyrocketing prices have been flooding the Federal Trade Commission for years.
The CEO of Mylan, Heather Bresch, defended the rising price of the life-saving drug now at over $600. Bresch was on Capitol Hill on the defense before the House Oversight Committee, whose hearing was prompted by the outpouring of outrage over EpiPen prices.
Since 2007, when Mylan took over EpiPen, the price for a two-pack has jumped from $94 to over $600.
After filing a Freedom of Information Act request with the FTC for complaints regarding EpiPen pricing, necn Investigates found complaints about the price gouging began in 2012.
"They used to sell a single EpiPen — that is what doctors usually prescribed," said one complaint from Idaho. "As of 2012, they are only selling two EpiPens together as a bundle, which also doubled the price."
"They only last one year and I have never used one, now I will waste twice. As they are a virtual MONOPOLY this should not be allowed," said another from 2013 in New Hampshire.
“DO YOUR DAMN JOBS!" said one from August 2016 in Indiana. "You sit on your duffs while healthcare & drug prices are spiraling out of control with consumers continuing to feeding corporate profits while they have to choose dying rather than go bankrupt!"
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A generic version is on its way but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration identified "major deficiencies" in the application for the competing generic version meaning that will be delayed until 2017.
