New York State Will Investigate School EpiPen Contracts

New York officials will investigate whether Mylan Pharmaceuticals violated antitrust laws in its contracts to provide EpiPens to some schools, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Tuesday.

The company has recently come under fire for raising prices on the life-saving device. “If Mylan engaged in anti-competitive business practices, or violated antitrust laws with the intent and effect of limiting lower cost competition, we will hold them accountable,” Schneiderman said in a statement, Reuters reports. “Allergy sufferers have enough concerns to worry about—the availability of life-saving medical treatment should not be one of them.”

In its own statement, Mylan did not directly address the antitrust accusations, but said it had provided 700,000 free EpiPens to 65,000 schools under the EpiPen4Schools program. “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,” spokeswoman Lauren Kashtan said in a statement to Reuters.

[Reuters]