Watch Live Stream: EpiPen CEO Gets Grilled Before Congressional Committee Over Price Hikes

Mylan CEO Heather Bresch will appear Wednesday before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to explain her company's controversial price hike of its lifesaving EpiPen.

The bipartisan committee will hear from Bresch and the FDA's Doug Throckmorton.

“There is justified outrage from families and schools across the country struggling to afford the high cost of EpiPens," Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-CA) and Elijah Cummings (D-MD) said in a statement. "We look forward to receiving answers next week from Mylan about its dramatic price hike for this life-saving medication.

"We also plan to examine ways to encourage greater competition in the EpiPen market and to speed FDA’s approval of acceptable new generic applications. Our goal is to work together to ensure that critical medications, like the EpiPen, are accessible and affordable for all of our constituents.”

Chaffetz and Cummings, the ranking members on the committee sent a letter to Bresch two weeks ago asking for her to appear before the committee. They have also requested that Mylan produce communication and other documents related to the price hike, including revenue numbers, federal subsidies and manufacturing costs.

You can watch a live stream of the hearing on CSPAN here.

Amid criticism of the price increase, Mylan announced last month that it would launch a generic alternative at a 50 percent discount of the list price.

The generic EpiPen will cost $300 per two-pack carton and will be identical to the branded medicine. The company says it will launch the product in "several weeks," pending completion of label revision.

Plans announced by the company last week to provide more financial help to customers and to expand the number of low-income patients eligible to receive company subsidies will remain in effect. As the New York Times notes, the steps did not do much to quell public outrage, as the overall cost to the health system would remain the same.

The price of the EpiPen has increased 550 percent over eight years, and the list price for a pack of two is just over $600. The product is used to treat severe allergic reactions.

Image Credit: Greg Friese via Flickr Creative Commons