Mylan settlement leaves execs unscathed as company braces for another hearing

Pictured above is Mylan headquarters. Mylan has been under fire for price hikes for EpiPens.

Based on the Mylan's past compensation arrangements, the company's $465 million settlement with federal prosecutors won’t have much of a financial impact on its highest paid executives, who will face another line of questioning from senators next month.

Like many drug companies, Mylan has traditionally excluded legal settlements when calculating executive pay, according to the Wall Street Journal. Just weeks after several senators called on the Department of Justice to investigate Mylan’s misclassification of EpiPens within the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, the company announced it was settling allegations that its actions led to millions in overpayments, calling into question the DOJ’s new emphasis on corporate accountability.

Those representing Mylan shareholders balked at the idea that the company’s executives were exempt from financial repercussions.

“It would be grossly inappropriate for Mylan to exclude the cost of this penalty when determining incentive pay for top executives,” New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer told the WSJ. “The executives enjoyed lucrative payouts in the past for performance that turns out to have been based on improper conduct, and the company and its shareowners are now suffering the consequences.”

However, Mylan executives will face another round of questioning from lawmakers. On Wednesday, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced that the Senate Judiciary Committee would hold a hearing on Nov. 30 to examine the settlement. In September, Mylan CEO Heather Bresch faced a barrage of criticism from members of the House Oversight Committee regarding EpiPen price hikes

Meanwhile, because of higher EpiPen prices, the U.S. Department of Defense paid approximately $54 million in additional costs since 2009 for higher-cost prescriptions filled at retail pharmacies instead of discounted military clinics, Reuters reported. Data shows Medicare Part D spending on EpiPens increased 1,151 percent over a seven-year period.