Since 2007, when Mylan acquired the life saving allergy drug called Epipen, the company has been on a mission from hell to gouge desperate patients who need the drug to survive. More than that, its executives have also lavished themselves with gratuitous compensation hikes, reminiscent of the days when Marie Antoinette famously suggested the starving ham and eggers outside the castle gates be fed cake to subside their anguish.
From 2007-2016, Mylan’s CEO, Heather Bresch, enjoyed a 671% pay hike, from $2.4m to $18.9m. Also, their President and COO, Rajiv Malik and Anthony Mauro saw their salaries increase 11% and 13.6%, respectively, in the year 2008 alone.
Over the same time period of Heather’s exorbitant lifestyle upgrade, the price of the Epipen increased 461% from $56.64 to $317.82. From the fourth quarter of 2013 thru 2016, Mylan jacked up the price of Epipen by 15% every other quarter.
How nice of them.
Shareholders have done very well, magnificently so. The stock has risen from $13 to $47 over the same time period.
Wait, it gets better.
Like any good executive worth his/her salt, the company sought out to expand the usage of the Epipen. After all, people needed it. Kids needed it, to live. So they ramped up their lobbying efforts, dramatically, spending $1.2m in 2008, up from $270k, to ‘convince’ officials to see things their way.
Shortly thereafter, the FDA changed its recommendation that two Epipens be sold per package, allowing them to sell one at a time, and that it be prescribed to ‘at risk’ patients only.
In 2013, congress passed a law that required Epipens be stocked in public schools, all the while Heather and Co., like the true robber barons they are, price gouged and injured the American tax payers, while endangering the lives of those who needed the drug to survive by making it unaffordable.
Crony capitalism.
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Good Dr., I’ll do you one better as it relates to crony capitalism, lobbying, and D.C. connections… Her father is Joe Manchin, just a lowly United States Senator from West Virginia.
They’re animals.
Wait there’s more!
Heather was granted an Executive MBA by West Virginia University in 2007. An independent panel later concluded that the university changed its records, and granted the degree despite incomplete graduation requirements. She had completed less than half of the required credits but strings were pulled to change the records. Look it up.
Oh no it gets MUCH better. Mylan is the second largest contributor to Joe Manchin’s Campaign Committee.
Exactly the truth starts coming out she needs to be locked up along with the rest of them including Obama and Hillary Americans need to start standing up for their rights
I am tired of fighting these fucks. Where do I sign up to lobby congress for something corrupt? I needs to get mines bitch! The only villain is Martin Shkreli right?
Hey, we’re hearing about this, so she’s about to get the Shkreli treatment, right? Right? Or does she not fit the narrative?
I have no hope for humanity.
I’m beginning to lose my hope in humanity that’s pretty sad and we need to start standing up for our rights but there seems to be a lot of stupid people out there
Is there a politician in DC who is not completely bought and paid for? This country needs to purge the filth all at once but it won’t happen. We are swirling around the turd bowl and it will all be flushed soon enough. What things look like afterward is anyone’s guess. Years ago, if someone did to people what our politicians do to the public today, they would be drawn and quartered. Today, they are celebrities.
Plus 10k !
to be fair, the COO getting a 13.6% salary increase over a 9 year stretch is not excess. I’d say it’s quite low. Most companies pay 1-2% for annual merit’s….so that’s less.
The 13.6% was for 2008 alone
I should have authored this post as I am drug pusher extraordinaire.
Schools require that each child with history of anaphylaxis bring two pens each ($600), resulting in a vast oversupply at one site. Given that these pens have a paltry one year expiration the school nurse must throw away at least 50 pens ($30K) per annum. The school could easily stock two pens and 10 ampules of epinephrine totaling under 1K and save the health care system millions.
Alas my business is truly the merchant of death.
This is capitalism at its finest. Take from the poor and give to the rich.
One man’s ‘crony capitalism’ is another man’s “free market”.
This is what the far right wants… if you want to live, pay up mother fucker.
Hmmm funny how he’s a Democratic
Democratic Senator what a surprise….not
It’s a story of a model pharmaceutical company doing everything by the book from the ground up to the point they can hold patients’ lives, in some cases, up for ransom while fleecing insurance providers.
BS