ABC, CBS Censor Link Between Democrat Senator and EpiPen Outrage Despite 18 Mins of Coverage

[rangerrebew]

ABC, CBS Censor Link Between Democrat Senator and EpiPen Outrage Despite 18 Mins of Coverage
By Curtis Houck | August 24, 2016 | 8:50 PM EDT
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Despite over 18 minutes of coverage of the past week on the skyrocketing cost of EpiPens by over 400 percent, ABC and CBS have failed in their duties to note that the pharmaceutical company CEO being called out for raising the price while hiking her own compensation to almost $19 million is also the daughter of Democratic Senator Joe Manchin (W.V.).

Further, the two networks and NBC have collectively neglected to reveal that Mylan Pharmaceuticals has partnered in the past for medical aid with the Clinton Foundation and given money as well to the scandal-ridden foundation.

CBS This Morning was the first network newscast to cover the massive price increase from $90 for a two-pack to an exorbitant $608 back on August 16 and, along with the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley, have spent 12 minutes and 52 seconds over four segments. However, none have mentioned either link to Manchin or the Clinton Foundation.
 

Source URL: http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2016/08/24/abc-cbs-censor-link-between-democrat-senator-and-epipen-outrage

[sinkspur]

Stupid article.  Joe Manchin doesn't control his fully-grown adult daughter.

[rangerrebew]

Stupid article.  Joe Manchin doesn't control his fully-grown adult daughter.

No, but he does have influence on whether or not the senate would investigate this.  I just saw an article which said the price is starting down now that it is in the media.

[mountaineer]

Mylan CEO's mother used position with education group to boost EpiPen sales nationwide
Jayne O'Donnell, USA TODAY
 6:03 p.m. EDT September 20, 2016
EXCERPTED

After Gayle Manchin took over the National Association of State Boards of Education in 2012, she spearheaded an unprecedented effort that encouraged states to require schools to purchase medical devices that fight life-threatening allergic reactions.

The association’s move helped pave the way for Mylan Specialty, maker of EpiPens, to develop a near monopoly in school nurses’ offices. Eleven states drafted laws requiring epinephrine auto-injectors. Nearly every other state recommended schools stock them after what the White House called the "EpiPen Law" in 2013 gave funding preference to those that did.

The CEO of Mylan then, and now, was Heather Bresch. Gayle Manchin is Heather Bresch’s mother.

Mylan is the subject of congressional investigations related to huge price hikes the company announced last month. It also faces an antitrust probe by the New York attorney general stemming from its EpiPen sales contracts with schools.

Bresch is testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday at a hearing called by Republican and Democratic members of the panel.

In October 2012, Mylan sponsored a morning of health presentations at the association’s annual conference. The presentations included a panel described as being on three of the biggest school health concerns, including food allergies.

The presenter at the panel, Chicago-based allergy doctor Ruchi Gupta, received more than $400,000 last year from Mylan for research on which she was the principal investigator, according to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services records. The center began releasing drug and device makers’ payments to doctors in 2013, when Gupta got more than $17,000 from Mylan for speaking, education, food and travel.

About this time, Mylan launched its "EpiPen4Schools” program, which has provided more than 700,000 free EpiPens to 65,000 schools, about half the nation's schools. The New York attorney general's investigation centers on this program, which required schools to buy EpiPens rather than its competitors if they got discounted versions, but Mylan has since changed the policy.

In December 2012, the association announced an "epinephrine policy initiative" designed to "help state boards of education as they develop student health policies regarding anaphylaxis and epinephrine auto-injector access and use," according to a press release that month. The resulting policy “discussion guide” listed key components that school policies and state legislation should have, including protection from legal liability for the school.

It was the first time the group had addressed food allergies as policy despite its own admission that it had been a growing issue since about 2000.

Previously, the association carefully avoided corporate influence, especially when its policy guidance was involved, says Brenda Welburn, the former longtime executive director.   ...

Rest of sordid story at USA TODAY

[mountaineer]

The EpiPen pricing scandal just got even more complicated for the CEO and her family at the heart of it
    Lydia Ramsey
Business Insider
EXCERPTED

Mylan CEO Heather Bresch has been in the hot seat over the price of the EpiPen.

The cost of the device, used in emergencies to treat severe allergic reactions, has increased more than 500% since Mylan acquired it in 2007.

Now Bresch's parents are being brought into the conversation.

And it's no ordinary family — Bresch is the daughter of Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Her mother, Gayle Manchin, was president of the National Association of State Boards of Education, USA Today reports.

While in that position — and after Bresch became CEO at Mylan, in 2012 — the NASBE launched an "epinephrine policy initiative," which was the first time it had addressed food allergies, USA Today reports.

Shortly after, Mylan launched its EpiPen4Schools program, which is now the subject of an antitrust investigation by the New York attorney general. And in 2013, President Barack Obama signed legislation that helped public schools build up emergency supplies of EpiPens.

"There is no truth to the suggestion that the company's efforts were anything but straightforward or that we are aware of anyone advocating inappropriately for the right of schoolchildren to have access to potential life-saving medicine," Mylan told USA Today in a statement.

"We make a point ever since I've been in this position, and when I was governor, we made a point, we just didn't get involved. It's so convoluted. I don't understand," Joe Manchin told Bloomberg on September 7. "To get into something you don't understand and your daughter being in this type of industry, it was best I stayed away."

In the past few weeks, Mylan has found itself facing accusations that it overcharged Medicaid and an investigation into whether it violated antitrust laws with its EpiPen4Schools program. Lawmakers have been asking for federal investigations and hearings to get more details on how Mylan set the price of the EpiPen.   ...

Rest of story
The bolded paragraph is why I've long called Joe "Mojo" Manchin a dope. While governor, he and his wife were infamous around town for their drinking, and this may be evidence of it.