Gayle Manchin, mother of Mylan CEO Heather Bresch, allegedly used her role as director of the National Association of State Boards of Education to boost school EpiPen sales, according to USA Today.
After Ms. Manchin stepped into her role in 2012, she led an unprecedented campaign called the "epinephrine policy initiative" that encouraged states to require schools to purchase EpiPens.
Eleven states drafted laws requiring EpiPens in schools and almost every other state recommended its schools stock the drug, since the White House's so-called "EpiPen Law" gave funding preference to those who did, according to the report.
Before Ms. Manchin took over as executive director of NASBE, the association made a point to avoid corporate influence, especially when policy guidance was involved, said Brenda Welburn, former executive director of NASBE.
Ms. Welburn remembers Ms. Manchin stopping by her office in 2011 to say that her "daughter's company" could donate to NASBE. The following year, when Ms. Manchin took over as executive director, Mylan offered a donation and the association launched the EpiPen initiative.
"It just looked so bad to me," Ms. Welburn said. "She becomes president and all of a sudden NASBE is saying EpiPens are a good thing for schools."
Mylan said its sponsorship "focused on initiatives to raise awareness and understanding of anaphylaxis and encouraged policies that supported greater access," according to a company statement. "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 school children to have access to potential life-saving medicine."
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