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Heather Bresch was beaten up by Congress last week — and rightfully so. The Mylan Pharmaceuticals chief executive testified before a House committee investigating EpiPen price hikes, and her performance was largely dreadful. Although soft-spoken and respectful, she often dodged questions, and too many of the answers she did give were vague or hard to follow. Nonetheless, the hearing may yet prove beneficial. (Ed Silverman, 9/27)

Here’s why the drugmaker should apologize to consumers. As the CEO of the drug maker that sells the EpiPen allergy-reaction injector defended the company’s six-fold price increases before Congress last week, it’s appalling to see that Heather Bresch took no fault. The company’s price hikes on a life-saving drug is clearly unethical if we take a closer look. EpiPen has gone from $100 for a two-pack in 2009 to $608 today. Usually, companies would be applauded for the ability to create revenue through such pricing power. But when it comes to life-saving drugs, consumers interpret these significant increases as the producer profiteering off a person’s life or death need. (Daniel Kozarich, 9/27)

The disregard for children's health that Mylan CEO Heather Bresch demonstrated in her testimony to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee directly harms consumers. Less directly, Mylan's exceptionally high price increases erode public confidence in all medical companies, including those investing billions in research to help people suffering from life-threatening diseases. (Bill George, 9/27)

Profiteering in the drug business has been generating outrage for months now. Gilead Sciences and Mylan have been taking the heat for huge increases in the prices, respectively, for their hepatitis-C cures and injectors to fend off life-threatening allergic reactions. But at least we can say this about them: Their products work. (Michael Hiltzik, 9/26)

I carry an EpiPen for my grandson’s peanut allergy whenever he is with me. This device can mean the difference between life and death. Millions of Americans have shouldered the skyrocketing price of the EpiPen, more than 400 percent since 2007, because the cost of going without this life-saving product would simply be too high. (Doris Matsui, 9/24)

One of the most unsatisfying aspects of the Mylan hearing — and a February verbal takedown of Turing Pharmaceuticals’ Martin Shkreli by the same committee — is that they were postmortems, not preemptive strikes. By the time fingers started pointing at the unrepentant CEOs, their companies already had made many millions of dollars from selling grossly overpriced products. A bipartisan bill just filed on Capitol Hill won’t stop such profiteering. It might, however, do away with some of the mystery surrounding pricing, and allow consumers and elected officials to weigh in before a hike takes effect. The proposal calls for requiring companies to provide the Department of Health and Human Services with a report explaining any price increase of 10 percent or more in an “understandable online format” – 30 days in advance of its implementation. (9/23)

It has been three years since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention effectively declared victory in the fight against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA and reported a decrease by over 50 percent in hospital-acquired MRSA infections. Now the United States is refocusing its efforts on antibiotic development and antibiotic stewardship, designed to both treat and prevent the emergence of infectious superbugs. (Devin Kavanagh, 9/23)