Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, went after Mylan this week for not cooperating with his EpiPen investigation, threatening to subpoena the drugmaker to get the info he needs. Now, Mylan officials have offered to meet as the senator pushes to learn about a Medicaid drug misclassification that cost taxpayers north of $1 billion and which one of Grassley's senate colleagues is demanding Mylan repay.
Mylan reached out to set up a meeting for next Wednesday, a staffer for the senator said via email. A spokesperson for Mylan wrote to FiercePharma: "We have met, and continue to meet, with many congressional offices, including Sen. Grassley's."
News of the upcoming meeting comes just days after Sen. Grassley said the company has been “unwilling to cooperate and provide documents voluntarily” for his investigation into a Medicaid misclassification for EpiPen, the lifesaving allergy injector.
According to Sen. Grassley, Mylan’s behavior “makes me wonder what there is to hide and whether a subpoena is the only way to get to the bottom of this,” Grassley said in a Wednesday statement.
RELATED: Mylan lowballed Medicaid on EpiPen by $1.27B, far more than its DOJ settlement
At the same time, Sen. Grassley released a new finding from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General that EpiPen’s misclassification on the government program cost taxpayers $1.27 billion over 10 years.
Last October, after just two weeks of public scrutiny on the misclassification, Mylan announced a $465 million agreement with U.S. authorities to settle the allegations. The company admitted no wrongdoing.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., was among the deal’s early critics, calling it “unacceptable” and a “shadow of what it should be.” This week, the senator told CNBC the company needs to pay up.
"Mylan owes the American taxpayers $1.27 billion," he told the publication. "It is time to collect."
RELATED: Senator blasts DOJ's 'unacceptable' deal with Mylan, urges AG to dig deeper
As chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Grassley has been pushing to learn more about the misclassification. He said Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services personnel made Mylan aware of the error “several times” but Mylan did nothing.
A Mylan spokeswoman had no comment on the announcement from Sen. Grassley. She said the company continues to “work with the government to finalize the settlement as soon as possible.”
Mylan first ran into trouble with EpiPen in August last year when news broke that the company had been increasing its price considerably over several years. As that scrutiny mounted, a new controversy emerged on the Medicaid misclassification issue; Mylan moved to quickly squash that with a government settlement.
RELATED: Mylan strikes $465M EpiPen deal with DOJ, but other threats remain
Investors initially cheered the move, as many feared liabilities could be higher than $465 million. Now, as the company looks to move past its EpiPen mess, new competition has hit the market to hurt the big-selling epinephrine injector’s sales outlook.