Senators call on Mylan to return DoD overpayments

The same trio of senators who discovered Mylan was overcharging state Medicaid programs by misclassifying EpiPens is asking the drugmaker to return at least $50 million in overpayments made by the Department of Defense (DoD). 

In a letter to Mylan CEO Heather Bresch, U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) voiced their concern about reports that the DoD paid approximately $54 million in additional costs in the last eight years for EpiPen prescriptions filled at retail pharmacies rather than discounted military clinics.

“Given Mylan’s stated intent to properly reclassify the EpiPen, Mylan should take immediate action to ensure that service members, their families, and the federal government do not pay excessively for EpiPen,” the letter stated. “Since it appears that due to Mylan’s misclassification the DoD was overcharged through its retail pharmacy network, what are Mylan’s plans to reimburse the DoD?”

Weeks after the senators raised concerns about Medicaid overpayments, Mylan agreed to pay $465 million to settle claims that it misclassified EpiPens in the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program. The quick turnaround raised questions about the Justice Department’s new policy regarding corporate accountability. Since then, Reuters reported that West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey urged the Department of Justice to reject the deal, calling it “woefully deficient.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing on Nov. 30 to review Mylan’s settlement. On Tuesday, Grassley announced that the committee requested records from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General indicating HHS knew about the EpiPen misclassification in 2009. Inspector General Daniel Levinson has been asked to testify at the hearing.

Grassley and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) also requested that the Federal Trade Commission review Mylan’s business practices to determine if the company violated antitrust laws by designing purchase agreements with schools that forbid them from purchasing products from competitors.