WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators pressing on Wednesday for an explanation of the skyrocketing cost of the EpiPen, a lifesaving injection device for those with severe allergies, found themselves directing their outrage toward an inconvenient target: the daughter of Senator Joe Manchin III.
Mr. Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, is the father of Heather Bresch, the chief executive of Mylan, a pharmaceutical company under fire over steep price increases as families and others who rely on its EpiPens stock up for a new school year.
That connection, reported this week by CQ HealthBeat, is a twist that could prove to be uncomfortable for Mr. Manchin and his Senate colleagues should Ms. Bresch be called to testify about a more than 400 percent increase in the product's price since Mylan acquired it in 2007.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, is one of several lawmakers who have written to Ms. Bresch, calling for a congressional and federal investigation and demanding to know whether Mylan exploited its "virtual monopoly" on the device.
He dismissed the idea that the tone of a Senate hearing with Ms. Bresch would be affected by her family connection. It would have more to do with whether the company had acted immorally, Mr. Blumenthal said, "not the identity of a particular Mylan executive."
"The reception to anybody before either the Commerce or the Judiciary committees will be determined by what they have to say and how they say it," he said.
Mr. Manchin is a member of the Commerce Committee, though not the Judiciary Committee.
The prospect of a congressional inquiry into astronomical drug costs brought back memories of a hearing nearly seven months ago, in which Martin Shkreli, the embattled former chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, appeared before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Lawmakers pelted Mr. Shkreli with questions about his company's sudden, exorbitant price increases, growing increasingly annoyed as he smiled, fidgeted and invoked his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination.
MJ Henshaw, a House Oversight spokesman, said on Wednesday that no hearing had yet been scheduled on EpiPen prices.
On Wednesday, leaders of the Senate Special Committee on Aging demanded that Mylan provide information and a briefing on its thinking behind the price increases.
For another senator, Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, the issue is personal for another reason: Her daughter uses an EpiPen.
"Not only is this alarming price increase unjustified, it puts lifesaving treatment out of reach to the consumers who need it most," Ms. Klobuchar wrote on Monday to the Federal Trade Commission, urging it to investigate Mylan for potential antitrust violations.
Mr. Manchin declined to comment.
Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, on Wednesday called the price increase "outrageous."
Sean Spicer, spokesman for the Republican National Committee, tried to tie Mrs. Clinton to the controversy, posting on Twitter that it was caused by her "supporter's daughter," a reference to Mr. Manchin and Ms. Bresch. He shared a news release that said Mylan had given "up to $ 250,000" to the Clinton Foundation.
Mylan's political action committee has given at least $ 71,000 to congressional candidates from both parties this election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, with about 72 percent of those contributions going to Republicans. It has been one of the biggest donors to Mr. Manchin since he joined the Senate in 2010, giving more than $ 60,000 in total.
Mylan said in a statement that it had taken strides to support access to EpiPens, including through providing schools with free EpiPens and helping those with high-deductible insurance pay for them.
In 2013, President Obama signed into law a bill encouraging schools to keep on hand a supply of epinephrine — in particular, EpiPens, which automatically dispense the drug to counteract the effects of an acute allergic reaction with a quick stab to the thigh. Mylan lobbied for the bill.
Reports that the price of a two-pack of EpiPens had recently spiked to a new high of $ 608.61 were followed by revelations that Mylan executives had also received a huge salary increase. Since Mylan acquired the EpiPen, Ms. Bresch's compensation has risen 671 percent, to $ 18.9 million last year, NBC News reported.
Mylan also drew scrutiny in 2014 for acquiring a European drug company and then using it to incorporate in the Netherlands, where the company would pay less in taxes. It was an eyebrow-raising move for Ms. Bresch, whom Esquire magazine named a Patriot of the Year in 2011.
"Mylan's greed is apparently limitless," Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, said Wednesday on Twitter. "They didn't just raise the price of EpiPens, they also dodge U.S. taxes."
As the company watched its profits grow, Ms. Bresch argued in 2012 that it was possible to be charitable and successful. "I think this goes to the heart of being able to do good and do well," she told The New York Times at the time.
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