Mylan CEO misled lawmakers about EpiPen profits—they’re 66% higher

Enlarge / Mylan Inc. CEO Heather Breschtestifies during a hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee September 21, 2016 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (credit: Getty | Alex Wong)

The EpiPen profit figures that Heather Bresch, CEO of EpiPen maker Mylan, Inc., proudly displayed on a giant chart to the seething House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last week were misleading at best and a flat-out lie at worst, according to a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Bresch, who was called before the committee to explain steep price hikes of the life-saving devices, insisted that the company only makes $100 profit per two-pack of EpiPens. The list price for such a two pack now stands at $608. However, back in 2007, before Mylan bought the rights to the pens and raised the price 15 times, an EpiPen was priced at around just $50.

In her testimony, Bresch blamed the puzzlingly small profit on undefined costs and America’s complicated healthcare system. The committee, however, didn’t buy that—and rightly so.