Pharma Chic

[Tom Joad]

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/25/mylan...e-gouging.html

Mylan CEO Heather Bresch struggled Thursday to justify the repeated big price hikes of the company's lifesaving EpiPen devices as criticism continued that Mylan is gouging consumers with a retail cost of more than $600.

"No one's more frustrated than me," Bresch told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Thursday when she was pressed on the question of why Mylan needed to have such a high price for EpiPens, and why she just didn't cut their price.

"Everybody should be frustrated," said Bresch, who in recent days has come under fire from U.S. Senators, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and patients who are outraged by EpiPen's 400-percent price increases in recent years.

Yeah, I'll bet she's "frustrated"

When asked how she could justify increasing her own compensation — which has risen from $2.5 million in 2007 to $18.9 million in 2015 — even as parents have to pay significantly more for their children’s life-saving drugs, Bresch again completely dodged the question.

Bresch, whose father is Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has become just latest CEO whose face illustrates the ongoing controversy over rising drug prices, following on the heels of now-ex-Valeant Pharmaceuticals CEO Michael Pearson, and former Turing Pharmaceuticals chief Martin Shkreli.

"This is greed on steroids," legendary consumer advocate Ralph Nader told CNBC on Thursday.

https://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/wat...en-price-hike/