Government watchdog says U.S. taxpayers were grossly overcharged for EpiPen

Mylan, the company that makes the EpiPen, is back in the headlines after a new report that suggests U.S. taxpayers paid as much as $1.27 billion for the emergency allergy treatment under Medicaid Drug Rebate Program rules.

The Office of Inspector General found that Mylan misclassified the EpiPen as a generic drug, allowing it to charge Medicaid significantly more over the last decade than if it had been classified as a name-brand.

“We determined the Estimated Rebate Differential to be $1.27 billion for 2006 through 2016,” Christopher Seagle, director of External Affairs for the Inspector General’s office, wrote in a letter to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

Mylan drew congressional scrutiny and consumer scorn after the price of a two-pack of the EpiPen injector jumped from $100 in 2007 to more than $600 last year.

That and other price increases have prompted pledges from members of Congress to find a way to address sky-rocketing prescription drug prices. U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, says he won’t let Mylan off the hook.

“Taxpayers have a right to know what happened here and to be repaid whatever they are owed,”  Grassley said in a statement after the Inspector General’s report.

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