Mylan Documents Sought as W.V. Opens Case Probing Medicaid Fraud
Mylan Documents Sought as W.V. Opens Case Probing Medicaid Fraud
(Bloomberg) -- The state of West Virginia opened a Medicaid fraud investigation into Mylan NV as it filed a court action seeking to force the company to surrender documents related to its EpiPen.
The probe and the case were announced on Tuesday by state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey at a press conference in Charleston. The company was founded in West Virginia and its chief executive officer, Heather Bresch, is the daughter of Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat.
Mylan has been under the spotlight for weeks over the escalating price of its EpiPen, a life-saving allergy shot of epinephrine. The drugmaker acquired the rights in 2007, when it cost about $50, according to SSR Health, and raised the price to $600 for a two-pack. Mylan dominates the market, and the drug accounts for 40 percent of its operating profits, and members of Congress have been critical of the company.
The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The attorney general, a Republican, called Mylan’s failure to cooperate a violation of state law and said the company’s actions are “outrageous.”
--With assistance from Jared S. Hopkins and Cheryl Caswell in Charleston.
To contact the reporter on this story: David Glovin in New York at dglovin@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Heather Smith at hsmith26@bloomberg.net.