A class-action lawsuit has been brought against Mylan alleging the company of associating with Pfizer and other companies to increase the cost of the EpiPen. These epinephrine injectors can save people from life-threatening allergic reactions. While Mylan, a Vitaris company manufactures the branded variant of Epipen, there are also authorized generics available in the market. A 2017 class-action lawsuit alleged Mylan of working with Pfizer to raise the price of the life-saving EpiPen products. According to the plaintiffs, the companies violated various racketeering and antitrust laws through their scheme. The Mylan EpiPen class-action lawsuit contends that the defendants came up with an illegal scheme for monopolizing the market with its epinephrine autoinjector devices.
This caused millions of Americans to shell out exorbitant prices for EpiPens which aren’t constrained by or tethered to a competitive market. Mylan allegedly hiked the price of EpiPens by more than 600% in 2016 from $100 in 2007 to $608 in 2016. Plaintiffs blamed this antitrust agreement of Mylan with Pfizer for being driven solely by unaccountable companies and executives who tried to profit off human fear and misery. Mylan allegedly misclassified EpiPens under Medicaid’s rebate program in support of its scheme. They also engaged in restrained competition, and deceptive marketing and used invalid patents for blocking generics. These actions brought about a 2017 investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. Though Mylan has not admitted any wrongdoing, it has agreed to resolve all allegations brought against them with a $264 million settlement. On getting the approval of the court, this settlement fund shall be distributed among class members alongside any interest earned thereon after deducting any taxes and tax expenses, notice and administration expenses, litigation expenses, attorney’s fees, and service awards to the Plaintiff Class representatives. Pfizer agreed to a similar settlement in 2021 by shelling out $345 million. Class Members who submitted a claim form with the Pfizer settlement in 2021 don’t have to submit a claim as the same form will be used for disbursing payments under the Mylan settlement.
Eligibility For Making Claim: The terms of this settlement are expected to benefit entities and individuals who either provided or paid for reimbursement for either some or all of the purchase price of branded EpiPens or its authorized generic equivalents for consumption and not for resale by themselves, their family, insureds, employees, beneficiaries, or plain participants between 24th August 2011 and 1st November 2020 and did not exclude themselves from the Class during the initial notice period.
Proof Of Purchase: You don’t need to submit anything else if a Proof Of Claim form was already submitted during the settlement with the Pfizer defendants in 2021 in this case. Otherwise, you will have to submit a proof of claim that is either submitted online or postmarked within 25th July 2022.
Potential Claim Amount: According to the settlement terms, Class Members are eligible to receive payments in either one of the two fund pools. The first fund constitutes 20% of the net settlement fund and is expected to benefit consumers who bought EpiPens. The second fund constituting the remaining 80% of the net settlement fund will benefit third-party payors like insurance companies who either reimbursed consumers or paid for EpiPens. The exact amount of payment will vary according to the number of valid claims filed in each pool.
Objection Deadline: 8th June 2022 is the last date for objecting to the settlement, request for attorney’s fees, expenses or service awards, and the Plan of Allocation.
Settlement Website: EpipenClassAction.com
Claim Form: In re EpiPen Marketing, Sales Practices and Antitrust Litigation (epipenclassaction.com)
Deadline For Submitting Claim: 06/25/2022
Final Hearing Date: 06/06/2022
Settlement Amount: $264 million