Sen. Grassley to conduct hearing on EpiPen settlement

Wants details on Mylan deal with Justice Dept.

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he will hold a hearing Nov. 30 seeking details on the proposed $465 million settlement between Mylan and the U.S. Justice Department for overcharging Medicaid for the EpiPen.

Mylan announced the deal earlier this month, but many details — including how the Justice Department arrived at the settlement figure — remain unclear. The settlement, which Mylan has said needed to be finalized, did not include an admission of wrongdoing.

“Americans deserve to know what the government is doing to hold Mylan accountable, recoup lost tax dollars and prevent similar behavior in the future,” the Republican senator said in a statement.

Mylan had classified the EpiPen emergency allergy treatment as a generic instead of a brand name drug, allowing it to pay lower rebates to Medicaid and resulting in

states being overcharged for the product.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has said it notified Mylan on multiple occasions that the EpiPen was misclassified, but has declined to say when the warnings occurred. Drug companies are responsible for ensuring that their products are correctly classified.

Mylan, whose operations base is in Cecil, has said it complied with all laws and regulations regarding the EpiPen classification. The company did not respond to an email Thursday seeking comment on the hearing.

Late last week, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, blasted the settlement as “shockingly soft.” She said she believes Mylan defrauded the government by at least $530 million and she faulted the Justice Department for not collecting additional penalties under the False Claims Act.

“Your department’s limp response to Mylan’s deliberate fraud raises a serious question about exactly how you plan to police other companies if you approve settlements that show that crime does pay,” Ms. Warren said in an Oct. 21 letter to the department.

She asked for a briefing on the subject by Oct. 28.

A list of witnesses for the judiciary hearing, which is set for 10 a.m., hasn’t been announced.