Connecting the EpiPen dots

 David Meyers continues to look at the EpiPen story.  He's a Columbus writer about local historical sites and cultural events.

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, FOLKS.
 

FACT: Heather Bresch is the CEO of Mylan Specialty, the drug company that raised the price of EpiPens 450% over the past dozen years. She rose to that position in 2012, after starting out in the mail room in 1992. She received a $16M pay raise for her efforts.

FACT: Heather Bresch lied that she had obtained an MBA from West Virginia University. The school then faked documents to support her claim. In 2008, WVU President Mike Garrison was forced to ...resign as a result of the scandal.

FACT: Heather Bresch’s mother is Gayle Manchin. She became head of the National Association of State School Boards of Education in 2012. She spearheaded the effort to require schools to purchase EpiPens – a possible violation of anti-trust laws.

FACT: President Obama signed the EpiPen in 2013. Mylan provides a discount to schools, but only if they agree not to purchase products from a competitor. A year and a half later, Mylan moved its headquarters to the Netherlands, cutting its tax rate from 16.2% to 7.4% It now pays no U.S. taxes.

FACT: Heather Bresch’s father is Joe Manchin, senior Democratic senator from West Virginia. When he ran for the senate in 2010, Mylan Pharmaceuticals donated $127,000 to his campaign. However, he was not one of the 27 Democratic and 10 Republican sponsors of the bill. Obviously, he didn’t need to be because, well, they all look out for each other.

FACT: People will die because of the high cost of EpiPens.

Unfortunately, this is the norm in Washington. Politicians use their influence to feather their own nests all the time. And keep in mind that Joe Manchin is considered one of the good guys. Thinks of what the bad guys are up to.

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/08/24/ceo-at-center-of-epipen-price-hike-controversy-is-sen-joe-manchins-daughter/

 https://theintercept.com/2016/08/24/epipen-uproar-highlights-companys-family-ties-to-congress/

 http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/25/business/mylan-epipen-senate-manchin.html?_r=0

EpiPen, Hillary and the Media

The latest EpiPen story is one more way to not tell Hillary's story as far as I'm concerned. There are hundreds of companies who buy influence in government regulations to protect their products. That female CEO whose salary they were so outraged about is a Clinton Foundation donor. Why would a drug company seek favors? Planning ahead for when she is given the White House after losing it in 2008.  EpiPen, a very cheap product, is protected by our own federal government. 

Let's not lose focus here. Mylan is not the problem. Lots of prices go up 400% in 9 years, even at the local level, like licenses to braid hair, or walk dogs, or to prepare salads in a cafeteria, so it happens right in your own community to protect various trades.   Why is the College Board allowed to decide who goes to college with the ACT and SAT? What are their qualifications? They don't have any. It's a money train for the owners. The "architect" David Coleman who gave us "common core" to dumb down our students, is now President of College Board. What sort of increases do the publishers get?  We were forced into electronic medical records even before Obamacare--it was part of the "recovery" money of ARRA.  Bill Gates has lobbyists too.  My husband had an appointment in early July with a specialist a few miles away from his internist, yet she didn't have the scans 4 weeks later.  We could have walked the records to her office faster.  It's a huge government give away to IT companies. The EpiPen "scandal" is nothing in comparison to the billions we paid for EMR.

Obamacare has also driven up costs and prices, so the TV reporters could do a bit more digging about price increases and not go for the low hanging fruit and look for Hollywood celebs to boost their ratings while hiding from Hillary's scandals. Twitterverse is not news; it's bullying.

http://wqad.com/2016/08/25/epipen-manufacturer-blames-400-percent-product-price-hike-on-health-care-system/

http://truthinamericaneducation.com/common-core-state-standards/david-coleman-again-demonstrates-he-doesnt-get-education/

https://stopcommoncorewa.wordpress.com/2016/03/25/alternatives-to-satact-to-be-available/