Senator Grassley’s Letter to Mylan About EpiPen Pricing

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is asking the CEO of Mylan, the maker of EpiPens, to explain sharp increases in the device’s price.

“The substantial price increase has caused significant concern among patients,” Grassley, who is up for reelection this year, wrote in a letter to the company. “I have heard from one father in Iowa who recently purchased a refill of his daughter’s EpiPen prescription. He reported that to fill the prescription, he had to pay over $500 for one EpiPen.”

And while Mylan is saying that their abusive pricing practices are justified because they gifted American schools with some EpiPens, Grassley and millions of Americans aren’t buying it.  That’s like an abusive spouse saying their behavior is justified because they gifted the abused.

It’s abusive pricing. Lives are at risk.  On top of that, as Senator Grassley mentions, over 40% of American children are on Medicaid, so taxpayers are the ones who are actually shelling out for Mylan’s price-gouging in those cases.

Read Senator Grassley’s letter below. He raises some very important points.

Robyn O'Brien

Robyn O’Brien is the co-founder of rePlant Capital, an impact investment firm, deploying integrated capital from soil to shelf in order to build soil health and financial resiliency for farmers. She is also the founder of Do Good, a strategic advisory firm, and the AllergyKids Foundation. Random House published Robyn’s book, The Unhealthy Truth, in 2009, and her TEDx talks have been translated into dozens of languages and viewed by millions around the world.