The government backlash against Mylan's (MYL) sales practices for the EpiPen, its popular epinephrine auto-injector for severe allergies, shows no sign of ending.
In the latest development, the New York Attorney General's office announced that it is investigating Mylan's EpiPen 4 Schools program, which supplies the lifesaving auto-injector to kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools.
"No child's life should be put at risk because a parent, school, or healthcare provider cannot afford a simple, life-saving device because of a drug-maker's anti-competitive practices," New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement.
According to Schneiderman, who announced the investigation Sept. 6, Mylan may have inserted anti-competitive terms into its contracts with schools. At issue is whether the company's demands that the schools do business with no other supplier violates antitrust law. The company denies that is the case.
"The program continues to adhere to all applicable laws and regulations. There are no purchase requirements for participation in the program, nor have there ever been to receive free EpiPen auto-injectors," a Mylan spokesperson wrote in an email to TheStreet.
"Previously, schools who wished to purchase EpiPen auto-injectors beyond those they were eligible to receive free under the program could elect to do so at a certain discount level with a limited purchase restriction, but such restriction no longer remains," the spokesperson added.
Mylan is also taking flak from several states for allegedly inappropriately labeling Epipens a generic product for purposes of gaining rebates from their Medicaid programs, a charge the company also denies. The action at the state level follows a Congressional hearing into Mylan's EpiPen pricing last week.
