Mylan N.V. (NASDAQ:MYL) will pay the State of New Hampshire $1 Million as part of a national settlement over claims it overbilled Medicaid for its allergy injectors EpiPen. The money will go into the general treasury to be spent on any purpose.
Mylan $465 Million Settlement
The settlement is part of a $465 million agreement reached with the U.S Justice Department of Justice after Sanofi SA (ADR) (NYSE:SNY) filed a whistleblower lawsuit. Reports indicate that the EpiPen maker has reached an agreement to resolve claims it misclassified the EpiPen as a generic rather than a branded product. The settlement also covers claims that the company underpaid rebates to state Medicaid programs.
Mylan has also agreed to a five-year monitoring program that seeks to ensure it complies with Medicaid. The company has also agreed to pay higher rebates for EpiPen. Sanofi is to receive $38.7 million of the settlement as goodwill for raising the matter with investigators last year.
“Mylan misclassified its brand name drug, EpiPen, to profit at the expense of the Medicaid program. Taxpayers rightly expect companies like Mylan that receive payments from taxpayer-funded programs to scrupulously follow the rules,” Acting U.S. Attorney, William Weinreb, said in a statement.
Mylan Chief executive officer, Heather Bresch, expects the settlement to resolve all potential Medicaid rebate liability claims along with potential claims by hospitals.
Criticism
The company came under immense scrutiny last year after raising the price of the handheld device commonly used to treat life threatening allergic reactions from $100 to $600.
The 600% price increase enraged consumers and lawmakers fueling a nationwide debate over soaring drug costs thus prompting a probe from the Justice department. The $465 million fine has not gone well with some legislators who feel it is too small, as most of them insist that the Justice Department should have pressed for higher penalties.
Amid immense criticism and investigations, Mylan has since introduced an authorized generic version of EpiPen that will cost significantly less than the branded name version.
Mylan stock was up by 0.52% in Friday’s trading session to end the week at $30.72 a share.
