Gayle Manchin, former First Lady of West Virginia and mother of embattled Mylan CEO Heather Bresch, may have used her position as head of the National Association of State Boards of Education to encourage states to require schools to buy EpiPens, according to a new report from USA Today.
Manchin took over this role in 2012, the same year her daughter was made CEO of Mylan, and eleven states soon followed her direction by drafting laws that required epinephrine auto-injectors in schools. By 2013, most states recommended schools stock this allergy medication after the so-called federal “EpiPen Law” helped fund those that did.
The news surrounding Manchin is the latest in a series of controversies surrounding Mylan and its price hikes on EpiPens over the last several years. The company is the center of congressional investigations related to the popular allergy treatment, and it also faces an antitrust probe in New York related to its EpiPens4Schools program.
According to the USA Today report, Mylan’s relationship with the National Association of State Boards of Education appears to have begun in October 2012, when the company sponsored several health presentations at the association’s annual conference.
Just two months later, the association announced its “epinephrine policy intiative,” which was designed to help state boards of education develop health policies that included access to auto-injectors.
While Manchin’s organization never specifically mentioned Mylan when it recommended epinephrine auto-injectors, it didn’t really have to. As critics have pointed out, Mylan is basically the only maker of these allergy treatments in the world.
It’s not difficult to see the connection here, and this latest detail will only add more drama to the ongoing Mylan controversy.
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Mylan CEO's Mother Pushed Schools to Buy EpiPens
Gayle Manchin, former First Lady of West Virginia and mother of embattled Mylan CEO Heather Bresch, may have used her position as head of the National Association of State Boards of Education to encourage states to require schools to buy EpiPens, according to a new report from USA Today.
Manchin took over this role in 2012, the same year her daughter was made CEO of Mylan, and eleven states soon followed her direction by drafting laws that required epinephrine auto-injectors in schools. By 2013, most states recommended schools stock this allergy medication after the so-called federal “EpiPen Law” helped fund those that did.
The news surrounding Manchin is the latest in a series of controversies surrounding Mylan and its price hikes on EpiPens over the last several years. The company is the center of congressional investigations related to the popular allergy treatment, and it also faces an antitrust probe in New York related to its EpiPens4Schools program.
According to the USA Today report, Mylan’s relationship with the National Association of State Boards of Education appears to have begun in October 2012, when the company sponsored several health presentations at the association’s annual conference.
Just two months later, the association announced its “epinephrine policy intiative,” which was designed to help state boards of education develop health policies that included access to auto-injectors.
While Manchin’s organization never specifically mentioned Mylan when it recommended epinephrine auto-injectors, it didn’t really have to. As critics have pointed out, Mylan is basically the only maker of these allergy treatments in the world.
It’s not difficult to see the connection here, and this latest detail will only add more drama to the ongoing Mylan controversy.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>