In the face of intense scrutiny after news of its price-gouging on EpiPens started circulating, pharmaceutical manufacturer Mylan announced on Thursday that it would offer discounts for the life-saving drug.
In a statement, CEO Heather Bresch said that the company would double the income level at which families can request financial assistance in purchasing the auto-injectors to 400 percent of the federal poverty line, meaning that a family of four who earn below $97,000 will be eligible for assistance.
"We recognize the significant burden on patients from continued, rising insurance premiums and being forced increasingly to pay the full list price for medicines at the pharmacy counter," Bresch said in the statement. "Patients deserve increased price transparency and affordable care, particularly as the system shifts significant costs to them."
She did not, however, place all the blame for her company's dangerous price hike on its own rapaciousness, claiming that "price is only one part of the problem that we are addressing with today's actions. All involved must also take steps to help meaningfully address the U.S. healthcare crisis, and we are committed to do our part to drive change in collaboration with policymakers, payers, patients and healthcare professionals."
All of which sounds very responsible, except for the fact that there were no market or social forces that drove up the price of EpiPens, and the last time the company worked "in collaboration with policymakers," it resulted in the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act through Congress -- a bill that encourages school districts to stock epinephrine auto-injector.
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