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404
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Registered: 08/20/10
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Feds go after Mylan for scamming Medicaid out of millions on EpiPen pricing
#23692271 - 09/29/16 09:18 PM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Regulators warned Mylan multiple times, and now there are “financial consequences."
Beth Mole - Sep 29, 2016 9:30 pm UTC Enlarge / WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 21: Mylan Inc. CEO Heather Bresch holds up a 2-pack of EpiPen as she testifies during a hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee September 21, 2016 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The committee held a hearing on "Reviewing the Rising Price of EpiPens." (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) Getty | Alex Wong 75
Over the nine or so years that Mylan, Inc. has been selling—and hiking the price—of EpiPens, the drug company has been misclassifying the life-saving device and stiffing Medicaid out of full rebate payments, federal regulators told Ars.
Under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, drug manufacturers, such as Mylan, can get their products covered by Medicaid if they agree to offer rebates to the government to offset costs. With a brand-name drug such as the EpiPen, which currently has no generic versions and has patent protection, Mylan was supposed to classify the drug as a “single source,” or brand name drug. That would mean Mylan is required to offer Medicaid a rebate of 23.1 percent of the costs, plus an “inflation rebate” any time Mylan raises the price of the brand-name drug at a rate higher than inflation.
Mylan has opted for such price increases—a lot. Since Mylan bought the rights to EpiPen in 2007, it has raised the price on 15 separate occasions, bringing the current list price to $608 for a two-pack up from about $50 a pen in 2007. That’s an increase of more than 500 percent, which easily beats inflation.
But instead of classifying EpiPen as a “single source” drug, Mylan told regulators that it’s a “non-innovator multiple source,” or generic drug. Under that classification, Mylan is only required to offer a rebate of 13 percent and no inflation rebates.
It’s unclear how much money Mylan has skipped out on paying in total to state and federal governments. But according to the state health department of Minnesota, as reported by CNBC, the misclassification cost that state $4.3 million this year alone.
In a statement to Ars, Aaron Albright, a spokesperson for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), said that regulators had told Mylan of the mistake “on multiple occasions”:
CMS has… expressly advised Mylan that their classification of EpiPen for purposes of the Medicaid Drug Rebate program was incorrect. This incorrect classification has financial consequences for the amount that federal and state governments spend by reducing the amount of quarterly rebates Mylan owes for EpiPen.
Those financial consequences may include penalties and other government claims. However, Albright declined to discuss potential penalties they’re pursuing, saying only: “We are not in a position to comment on specific steps taken by CMS or our other federal partners to correct this misclassification.”
The question of whether Mylan had misclassified EpiPens came up during a recent Congressional hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Mylan CEO Heather Bresch, defending the company’s prices at the hearing, stood by the classification. She noted that EpiPen was classified as a generic before Mylan bought the drug in 2007.
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musiclover420
psychonaut



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Re: Feds go after Mylan for scamming Medicaid out of millions on EpiPen pricing [Re: 404]
#23692524 - 09/29/16 10:38 PM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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I hope they lose all the money they made jacking up the prices and then some... Plus maybe a prison sentence and mandatory neutering for being scum.
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Sheekle
FREE BURKE



Registered: 01/11/10
Posts: 53,153
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Re: Feds go after Mylan for scamming Medicaid out of millions on EpiPen pricing [Re: 404] 1
#23692537 - 09/29/16 10:42 PM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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Good, hopefully they share a prison cell with that douchebag who threw the HIV med prices up a zillion notches
-------------------- "Ur cat died because he hated u" - Koods "I hope JSB kicks your ass one day." - Vandago "you are the biggest 'internet guy' I have ever come across"- Jokeshopbeard "The more I see you post the more I realize you're just this fuckin tie dye loser who trolls the Shroomery 24/7." - Herbologist "Sheekle you cannot vile the dice of bullshit you have posted on this forum over the years, I like databases" - thelastoneleft "or maybe i just come from a blood line of superior intelligence" - trees R.I.P Kelsy, ?/?/?? - 6/11/16
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Oggy
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Re: Feds go after Mylan for scamming Medicaid out of millions on EpiPen pricing [Re: Sheekle] 1
#23692994 - 09/30/16 05:09 AM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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There probably won't be prison time for anyone. Just fines. Martin Shkreli didn't get hit with anything, really.
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Le_Canard
The Duk Abides


Registered: 05/16/03
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Re: Feds go after Mylan for scamming Medicaid out of millions on EpiPen pricing [Re: 404]
#23696459 - 10/01/16 07:32 AM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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I hope they prosecute the Mylan scumbag CEO and throw him under the jail.
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404
error


Registered: 08/20/10
Posts: 14,539
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Re: Feds go after Mylan for scamming Medicaid out of millions on EpiPen pricing [Re: Le_Canard]
#23696587 - 10/01/16 09:07 AM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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We can only hope! Epi's should only cost $10 imho
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LIBERTYNY
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Registered: 04/07/16
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Re: Feds go after Mylan for scamming Medicaid out of millions on EpiPen pricing [Re: 404]
#23702167 - 10/03/16 12:46 AM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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Blaming Mylan is BS, put the blame where it belongs on the fda and the goverment.
"The Lack of EpiPen Competitors is the FDA's Fault
EpiPen
237 Comments
Tags Big GovernmentHealth 08/24/2016Jonathan Newman
There’s a new bout of outrage over an expensive medicine or medical treatment. While the good in question changes each time, the blame always seems to fall on greedy corporations who just aren’t regulated enough. Free markets and capitalism are the scapegoat, even when nothing remotely resembling unhampered markets in health care is in place in the United States.
This time, it’s the EpiPen, a device that easily and safely injects epinephrine to quickly open up airways for people undergoing severe anaphylaxis because of an extreme allergy. It has saved the lives of countless people who are allergic to bee stings, certain foods, or other drugs because it can be administered on the spot by somebody without any medical training.
EpiPen is sold by Mylan, and the price for a pack of two has increased from about $100 in 2007 to over $600 as of May 2016. Mylan has tried to quell the storm by pointing out that many of their customers pay nothing for the drug because of insurance. Their deflection has been unsuccessful.
The economist looks for competitors in cases like this. A firm cannot just willy-nilly raise their prices without a competing firm leaping in to give consumers what they want at a lower price. As it turns out, Mylan has a great friend who keeps would-be competitors out of the market, or at least makes it so difficult for them that they eventually go out of business. That friend is the FDA."
--- https://mises.org/blog/lack-epipen-competitors-fdas-fault
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