Mylan Specialty is giving schools around the country its EpiPen device to fight the severe allergic reaction called anaphylaxis.(Photo: Provided)

A Cincinnati attorney has filed a class-action lawsuit against the maker of the EpiPen, calling the device’s 500-percent price increase in the last several years “immoral” and “nothing more than price-gouging.”

The lawsuit filed Tuesday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court seeks unspecified damages against Mylan Pharmaceuticals. According to the lawsuit, since acquiring the device in 2007, the Canonsburg, Pennsylvania-based company has raised the wholesale price from about $57 to more than $500.

It alleges the company has violated Ohio’s Consumer Sales Practices Act. That law says no supplier shall commit “an unconscionable act or practice in connection with a consumer transaction.”

The law also prohibits a supplier from taking advantage of a consumer’s “inability to protect their own interest due to … physical infirmities.”

Countless people are prescribed EpiPens to reverse an allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis, which can lead to swelling of the throat and make someone unable to breathe. They are life-saving devices that, according to the lawsuit, have been classified as “essential medication” by the World Health Organization. Children who are susceptible to the allergic reaction are often required to have them at school.

Attorney Carl Lewis said about 25 people, so far, are part of the class-action. He expects that number to increase significantly.

“I filed the lawsuit to right an injustice,” Lewis said in an interview. “The fact is, Mylan Pharmaceuticals – or any company – will not stop unconscionable practices if we as individuals…don’t strike. And I’m striking because I think it’s outrageous.”

The lead plaintiff is Linda Bates, a Cincinnati resident whose 15-year-old son has a peanut allergy that has required him to carry an EpiPen since he was 5 years old. The medication in the device lasts about a year, and every year Bates has to buy a new one.

The lawsuit says Bates paid $50 last year. “She has been informed by her pharmacists that the same EpiPen will now cost her $600,” the lawsuit says.

“The outrageous, unconscionable and immoral high prices set by (Mylan Pharmaceuticals), is nothing more than price-gouging,” the lawsuit says.

Officials from Mylan did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Mylan Pharmaceuticals, the lawsuit says, has a legal duty and obligation to set a fair, affordable and reasonable price “and not hold consumers hostage by forcing them to pay exorbitant prices for its medically necessary product.”

At the same time as Mylan has increased the price of EpiPens, the lawsuit says company executives have seen their salaries skyrocket.

Mylan CEO Heather Bresch saw her salary jump to $18.9 million last year from $2.4 million in 2007, according to the lawsuit.

Bresch has defended the price hikes, arguing that the U.S. health-care framework “incentivizes higher prices” through a complex thicket of drug companies, insurers, health-care providers and pharmacy benefit managers.

On Aug. 25, the company announced it would expand “already existing programs” to help patients who because of their insurance coverage face higher out-of-pocket costs. Days later, it announced that it was introducing the first generic, two-pack EpiPen, which will have a list price of $300. Current guidelines call for prescribing two doses, in case the first one fails.

“We understand the deep frustration and concerns associated with the cost of EpiPen to the patient, and have always shared the public’s desire to ensure that this important product be accessible to anyone who needs it,” Bresch said in a news release. “However, because of the complexity and opaqueness of today’s branded pharmaceutical supply chain and the increased shifting of costs to patients as a result of high deductible health plans, we determined that bypassing the brand system in this case and offering an additional alternative was the best option.”

For more information visit the source link below. USA Today contributed to this report.