EpiPens.Photo: Daniel Acker/Getty Images
The makers of EpiPens agreed to pay $264 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that they had created a scheme to monopolize the market forepinephrine auto-injectors, a life-saving medication for people having severe allergic reactions.
The proposed settlement would end an ongoing lawsuit against Viatris Inc. (formerly Mylan), the makers of EpiPen, that began in 2016after public outrage over the company’s decision to raise the list pricefor a two-pack of EpiPens from $100 to $600.
The plaintiffs sought $1 billion in damages, but last year, a judge had dismissed most of their case,Reuters reported. This settlement, which is still waiting on a judge’s approval,will not include any admission of liability, Viatris said.
Pfizer, which manufactures the EpiPens, was also named in the lawsuit and agreed last year to a $345 million settlement.
RELATED VIDEO: EpiPen Maker Under Fire After Hiking Price of Live-Saving Injector to $600
After the outrage over the price hike in 2016, several companies created EpiPen substitutions and theFood and Drug Administration approved the first generic alternative, but EpiPen had name-brand recognition.
Speaking with PEOPLE at the time, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, whose daughter has a severe nut allergy and needs an EpiPen, said that the change in price was “outrageous.”
“If you look at the facts here, when Mylan controls 85 percent of the market, to quoteBloomberg News, and they had this monopoly power drop in their laps and they went for it – that’s what I see,” she said in 2016. “They say they’ve made some improvements, but there’s no way their improvements should be five times more the value of the item itself.”
“This is so outrageous, and parents and patients are supposed to be buying this every year because it expires,” she continued. “So you’re asking all of 3.6 million — that’s how many prescriptions are written each year — families to just keep this on hand, probably not use it, and then pay escalating prices each year. And that’s what’s pissing people off.”
source: people.com
