For the past 10 months, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) has asked Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA) to provide information about any steps the drug maker has taken to mitigate the opioid epidemic. But the company has refused to comply, prompting the lawmaker to write the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans to reconsider their dealings with Teva.
In identical letters to the agencies (here and here), McCaskill wrote that Teva has been “stonewalling” her probe into the opioid crisis, which she launched last year into several drug makers and wholesalers. And she urged the agencies to “evaluate whether (the DOD and VA) should contract with an entity that has refused to respond to requests during a Senate investigation.”
McCaskill noted the DOD awarded Teva more than $8.5 million in contracts for supplying medicines since 2007, while the VA awarded the company more than $2.5 million in contracts over the same period. “At the very least, the actions of Teva during my investigation,” she wrote, “… should prompt a close look at existing financial relationships between the company and the federal government.”
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Given that the combined drug purchases average less that $1 million USD per year, one wonders if the Senator picked a target that was indeed “replaceable / expendable” in the grand scheme of things. Then again, it may indeed be on principle. “Call me in six months.”