Mylan Pharmaceuticals has found itself in the centre of yet another controversy after the New York State Attorney General opened an antitrust investigation into the drug maker's practices over the sale of EpiPen.
The investigation comes as a preliminary review after the Office of the Attorney General revealed that the company may have inserted potentially anticompetitive terms into its EpiPen sales contracts with several local school systems.
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Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman will find out whether Mylan violated antitrust laws by engaging in anti-competitive business practises.
Schneiderman said: “No child’s life should be put at risk because a parent, school, or healthcare provider cannot afford a simple, life-saving device because of a drug-maker’s anti-competitive practices.
“If Mylan engaged in anti-competitive business practises, or violated antitrust laws with the intent and effect of limiting lower cost competition, we will hold them accountable.
"Allergy sufferers have enough concerns to worry about and the availability of life-saving medical treatment should not be one of them. I will bring the full resources of my office to this critical investigation.”
Reuters quoted Mylan as saying that it had already removed some contractual restrictions and provided 700,000 devices to nearly 65,000 schools free of charge.
Mylan spokeswoman Lauren Kashtan was quoted by the news agency as saying: "Previously, schools who wished to purchase EpiPen Auto-Injectors beyond those they were eligible to receive free under the programme could elect to do so at a certain discount level with a limited purchase restriction, but such restriction no longer remains.”
Mylan is already facing a separate scrutiny for increasing the price of EpiPen from approximately $100 in 2008 to approximately $600.
EpiPen Auto-Injector (epinephrine injection, USP) is used for the emergency treatment of life-threatening allergic reactions caused by allergens, exercise or unknown triggers.
