Three consumers filed a lawsuit accusing Mylan Pharmaceuticals of paying kickbacks to pharmacy benefits managers in order to boost EpiPen sales, which caused them to unfairly overpay for the allergy-reaction device that has been at the center of the national debate over the high cost of medicines.
Their allegations take aim at the convoluted interplay between drug makers and pharmacy benefit managers, which are middlemen that negotiate favorable insurance coverage for medicines on behalf of insurers. The PBMs attempt to extract the best prices from drug makers and, for their trouble receive rebates, some of which are held back as fees.
The lawsuit, which charges Mylan engaged in racketeering, seeks class action status and claims that Mylan “gamed the system” and pretended to blame PBMs for demanding ever-higher rebates for its decisions to regularly raise the price for EpiPen.
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