The timeliness of Mylan’s ‘unapologetic’ $465M settlement

There is something to be said for breaking news.

When word came late Friday that Mylan would pay the U.S. Department of Justice $465 million for the misclassification of its EpiPen autoinjector, company strategists had no idea what was to come.

Yes, the tweets and news coverage announcing the settlement hit social media just as the week was drawing to a close. Crisis communicators understand that timing is a significant factor in PR.

ABC News was one of many news outlets to cover the story:

The federal government says EpiPen is a branded drug, which means Mylan should have been paying it a far higher rebate under the government's complex pricing rules.

Mylan said Friday the proposed settlement resolves all potential federal and state government claims. It also finds no wrongdoing on the part of the England-based company.

Following the announcement, the company’s stock jumped 9 percent in after-hours trading.

Mylan issued a press release. The second sentence read:

The terms of the settlement do not provide for any finding of wrongdoing on the part of Mylan Inc. or any of its affiliated entities or personnel.

CEO Heather Bresch said in the release:

This agreement is another important step in Mylan's efforts to move forward and bring resolution to all EpiPen Auto-Injector related matters. The agreement is in addition to the significant steps Mylan has taken in relation to EpiPen Auto-Injector over the past several weeks, including the unprecedented, pending launch of a generic version of EpiPen Auto-Injector and expansion of our patient access programs for this product.

MedCityNews reported: “The embattled Bresch was unapologetic.”

RELATED: Join crisis experts Michael Neuwirth, senior PR director at The Dannon Company, and Lorna Bush, SVP at Fineman PR for a crisis comms webinar.

Many posts on Twitter criticized Bresch and the federal government:

If there was a silver lining for Mylan, it might have come from the political world. A few hours after press release and tweets, the pharma company took a backseat to raucous news rocking the presidential election. In the blink of an eye, front-page headlines about vulgarity, private conversations and emails bumped Bresch’s story from the spotlight.

Mylan seems to have dodged a bullet in the news cycle. If so, its strategists couldn’t have orchestrated it any better. 

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