Mylan and the EpiPen: Increased Access or Price Gouging?

In September of 2016, Heather Bresch, the Chief Executive Officer of Mylan, was called to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, part of the U. S. Congress. The committee planned to ask Bresch questions about the $608 price tag that was attached to the two-pack of EpiPens sold by her company. Through successful marketing efforts, EpiPen was now easily accessible in schools as well as theme parks such as Disney, Inc. The marketing campaign that had targeted parents of children with allergies and intense lobbying of congress resulted in the requirement that public schools stock EpiPens. The outcome was that that the product that had generated $200 million in 2007 generated $1 billion in sales by 2015 (Johnson and Ho, 2016). Bresch planned to defend the EpiPen price increases, but would the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee find Mylan’s actions as ethical?