While Mylan agreed to pay $465 million to resolve accusations it improperly classified EpiPens as a generic drug, the Canonsburg, Pa.-based drugmaker has yet to finalize the settlement with the Department of Justice, reports Reuters.
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) was one of the several senators who openly criticized the proposed settlement in October. He sent a letter to CMS, asking for more information on the settlement and calling for stricter penalties against Mylan.
Outgoing CMS Acting Administrator Andrew Slavitt responded to Sen. Grassley's comments in a four-page letter on Jan. 18, saying, "It remains the case that there is no settlement with any potential party. We otherwise have no comment on any pending matter that the government may have involving Mylan or EpiPen beyond the discussion below [in this letter], and we continue to refer all questions to the Department of Justice.
Mr. Slavitt did not provide a reason as to why an agreement has not been reached. Sen. Grassley responded to the letter in a statement on his website.
"It's a lackluster and very disappointing response. CMS won't provide any details about whether it took any specific action on the EpiPen misclassification," he said. "CMS is trying to dodge responsibility for a problem that likely cost the taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and damaged Medicaid program integrity. This won't stand."
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