In 2016, Mylan, creator of the Epipen – yes, the same company that pushed the price of a two-pack of EpiPens to $609, rewarded chairman and former CEO, Robert Coury, with a whopping $98 million. As a result, certain pension funds are not very happy. These pension funds (New York City, New York State, and the California State Teachers' Retirement System) have begun a campaign to oust the CEO and several other Mylan directors. The ousters actually believe this $98 million dollar figure does not even cover the additional $60 million (!) Coury received for additional retirement benefits and other payments. Now that's a golden parachute!
But wait... didn't Mylan recently pay the federal government $485 million dollars to settle with the federal government for overcharging Medicaid for EpiPens? Why yes, yes they did. In fact, Coury had taken the lead during the EpiPen scandal. For more, check out the story.
Mylan is not the only company under fire for paying a troubled CEO an exorbitant amount in the face of controversy. In fact, Valeant's CEO received $63 million last year;meanwhile, the company is currently undergoing several investigations. Yikes!
Unfortunately, Mylan is also not the only pharmaceutical company padding executives' pocketbooks with excessive executive pay. The trend is actually quite common in the pharmaceutical industry. Some of the highest earners in this country are Pharma executives.
Perhaps if we shaved off some of these bonuses and payouts to executives more people could afford their medicines? Just a thought...