Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) says the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) has calculated that the company may have overcharged the government by about $1.27 billion for EpiPens, a life saving anti-allergy medicine.
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Drugmaker Mylan accused of overcharging the US government by about $1.27 billion for EpiPens
Mylan has been in hot water for the price of its blockbuster EpiPen drug before, and it looks like things may get worse.
Mylan CEO Heather Bresch testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016, before the House Oversight Committee hearing on EpiPen price increases.
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If Grassley and HHS are correct, that could mean a massive fine for Mylan — far more than the company expected.
After that, in October, Mylan was accused of overcharging the government for EpiPen. It ultimately announced
Warren, in a letter to the Department of Justice, flagged issues with the deal, mostly that the settlement was smaller than it should be. Warren's staff did its own calculation for how much Mylan might have made from this misclassification, and she thinks the company owes the government $530 million.
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At least.
From the letter:
"To summarize: If the terms of the agreement announced by Mylan are correct, Mylan wrongly classified EpiPen to maximize its Medicaid revenue, and did not change this classification despite being 'expressly told' by CMS that it was wrong. The Justice Department awarded Mylan by imposing a fine that is about $65 million less than the amount Mylan made by defrauding Medicare and Medicaid. In addition, you permitted Mylan to avoid admitting any admission of wrongdoing, collected no additional penalties under the False Claims Act, and blocked other actions against the company that would have require greater accountability."
Under the False Claims Act, companies can be fined $5,500 to $11,000 for each false claim they've made to the government, plus three times damages.
Enter Grassley's claim that the government was swindled for much, much more on Wednesday. In response,
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