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(Washington, D.C.) - Congressman Glenn Grothman (R-Glenbeulah) last night questioned officials about the price of EpiPens at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (OGR) hearing.

Heather Bresch, CEO of Mylan, the pharmaceuticals company that manufacturers EpiPen, and FDA Deputy Director, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research Dr. Doug Throckmorton addressed the skyrocketing price of the life-saving EpiPen. Dr. Throckmorton also touched on ways to speed up the FDA approval process of EpiPen generics.

Excerpts of Grothman’s questioning:

“Have we figured out why the market is not working and why other companies are not marketing these things and undercutting Mylan?

“Is there any reason why people aren’t producing this stuff for substantially less?

“So they so-called competition for EpiPen we can really argue is not as good or not the same thing?

“You’re making $19 or $20 million a year and that’s fine, maybe that’s a half cent off of every product you make […] But there was a time chief executives got along making a lot less and they make a lot less in sizable countries around the globe […] Do you ever feel guilty making such a large sum of money, not as someone who founded the company, but as an employee who really doesn’t have a lot of risk yourself?

“There are a lot of people out there who think the system is broke, and it’s part broke because they’re working their butt off and doing very valuable things and maybe they’re even told to take cuts in pay and they see a chief executive making a huge amount of money and I think it grates at some people. It causes distrust in our system.

“I’m not saying we take away your freedom to make that amount of money. I’m just saying in all walks of life there are people who have the capability of making more and voluntarily say I don’t need that amount of money. And I just wondered if you had any comment?”

Click here to watch Grothman’s full line of questioning.

Background:

EpiPens are used to administer epinephrine to individuals experiencing life-threatening allergic reactions.

Mylan has exponentially increased EpiPen prices over the past few years. In 2009, a two-pack of EpiPens cost $100. Recently, a two-pack cost jumped to $600, sparking outrage among those who use EpiPens to treat allergic reactions. As EpiPen prices have spiked, Bresch’s salary has increased to $19 million.

Recently, OGR Chairman Chaffetz (R-UT) and Ranking Member Cummings (D-MD) sent a letter to Bresch requesting information about Mylan’s revenue from sales of EpiPens and the manufacturing costs of EpiPens.

Bresch is the daughter of U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Gayle Manchin, the head of the National Associations of State Boards of Education, who recently led a controversial effort to place EpiPens in schools across the country.

U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman is serving his first term representing Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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