North Carolina reaches $11 million settlement with EpiPen maker

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - Mylan will pay North Carolina $11 million to settle claims the company inflated EpiPen prices through anticompetitive practices, Attorney General Jeff Jackson said Thursday.

The settlement splits $8.4 million between the State Health Plan and Medicaid. Both programs saw costs surge as EpiPen prices climbed from roughly $100 per two-pack in 2007 to around $600 by 2016, according to Jackson’s office.

Jackson said Mylan blocked competition by paying pharmacy managers to exclude generic alternatives and delaying rival products from entering the market.

“They used their control of the market to keep competitors out and drive the price up,” Jackson said. “That’s not legal. We made them pay it back.”

The settlement also addresses claims Mylan incorrectly classified EpiPen in the Medicaid rebate program and required customers to purchase two-packs when fewer were needed, according to the attorney general’s office.

Under the agreement, Mylan will raise its generic EpiPen copay coupon from $25 to $40, a move Jackson says will lower out-of-pocket costs.

More than 10,000 members of the State Health Plan, which covers 750,000 state workers and families, filled epinephrine prescriptions last year, according to state data.

Treasurer Brad Briner said the recovery helps offset healthcare expenses for plan members.

Dr. Austin Lucke, an emergency physician in eastern North Carolina, said pricing affects patient safety.

“Affordable access to this medication can be lifesaving,” Lucke said. “The inability to afford it can be fatal, particularly in our most vulnerable, including pediatric populations.”