New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman launched an investigation Tuesday into EpiPen maker Mylan over antitrust concerns in its contracts with school systems, reported CNBC.
A preliminary review of the contracts showed that Mylan may have added anti-competitive terms into its deals to sell the life-saving medication to schools, Mr. Schneiderman said.
"Some of these schools were required to sign a contract agreeing not to purchase any products from Mylan's competitors for a period of 12 months — conduct that can violate the antitrust laws when taken by a monopolist," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).
Just hours before news of Mr. Schneiderman's investigation, Sen. Blumenthal called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether the Canonsburg, Pa.-based drugmaker violated federal antitrust laws to prevent any competition for EpiPens.
Mylan's EpiPen4Schools program has donated 700,000 EpiPens to more than 65,000 schools and "continues to adhere to all applicable laws and regulations," the company said in a statement.
"There are no purchase requirements for participation in the program, nor have there ever been to receive free EpiPen Auto-Injectors," Mylan said. "Previously, schools who wished to purchase EpiPen Auto-Injectors beyond those they were eligible to receive free under the program could elect to do so at a certain discount level with a limited purchase restriction, but such restriction no longer remains."
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