Price-Gouging Mylan Is Also A Tax Deserter

Mylan, the company that has jacked up the price of their lifesaving product EpiPen in anticipation of their patent running out, is now also a tax deserter. The company recently offered a generic version of their product for about 50% off their existing price after all the bad publicity surrounding the nearly 600% increase in price in the last eight years. Of course, that 50% off price of $300 represents a 300% increase in the price eight years ago so it’s hard to see what kind of favor they are doing for EpiPen users. Even worse, it is now reported that Mylan’s tax home is in the Netherlands. Last year, Mylan, which is based in Pittsburgh, completed what is euphemistically called a tax inversion and became a Netherlands-based company in order to save on US taxes. This is tax desertion and tax avoidance through and through. The disgusting thing is that Mylan continues to benefit from US patent protections while avoiding US taxes. Perhaps we might want to think about taking away some of the benefits of the US legal system if a company decides it doesn’t want to pay US taxes anymore. That would be the least we could do.