The pharmaceutical company Mylan is under scrutiny for raising the price of the allergy treatment device EpiPen over 400 percent since 2007, and Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, is facing questions because his daughter Heather Bresch is the company's chief executive.
Manchin is not a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee that has shown interest in the case, and he is not discussing the issue, according to The Washington Post.
EpiPens are devices that are used to provide epinephrine in case of allergic reactions that could be fatal. Mylan purchased the product in 2007 and began raising its price then, according to NBC News.
NBC News also reported that from 2007 to 2015, CEO Heather Bresch's salary rose from around $2.4 million to around $18.9 million.
Manchin spokesman Jon Kott said, "Right now we don't have any comment," in an email.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Charles E. Grassley requested information from Bresch about how the company determined how much to charge for EpiPens and if the company provides any support for customers to help pay the cost.
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal demanded a lower price for EpiPens in a statement on his website.
Mylan issued a statement about EpiPens, and noted that in 2015, almost 80 percent of insured patients got the device for free using a savings card. The statement noted that since 2012, more than half of the schools in the U.S. have participated in a program to receive free EpiPens.
The statement said that rising deductibles and "current changes in the healthcare landscape" contribute to the rise in cost. It said, "We recognize the need and are committed to working with customers and payors to find solutions to meet the needs of the patients and families we serve."
The Center for Responsive Politics reported that Mylan donated $60,750 to Sen. Manchin between 2011 and 2016.
Manchin faced questions about Mylan before. In 2014, the company participated in an "inversion," in which it lowered its tax bill by incorporating in the Netherlands.
President Barack Obama has called inversions an "unpatriotic tax loophole." Manchin in 2014 told National Journal "I think basically inversion should be absolutely repealed."
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