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EpiPens are Becoming Too Expensive For Families To Afford

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M

Media

Member
“Make sure your child always has an EpiPen(R) Auto-Injector within reach,” reads item number 2 on the “Back To School Homework for parents” webpage hosted by the EpiPen brand owner, pharmaceutical company Mylan.
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Last year, about 3.6 million prescriptions were written for EpiPens, which expire each year and need to be replaced.
But Mylan has priced this life-saving medication, which can keep airways open during severe allergic reactions, far out of reach for many families. Over the past nine years, since Mylan bought the rights to the EpiPen, the price for the easy-to-use injectors has quintupled — increasing about 450 percent, from around $50 for one injector to $600 for a pack of two.
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Remember when everyone was disgusted when Martin Shkreli raised the cost of medicine? Well, now it's EpiPens. Considering the only alternative to an EpiPen in a regular injection (which is 20 dollars) that if done wrong can actually kill the person, this is revolting.
The only way the device can be purchased is in packs of two — a move made after an FDA recommendation that allergy sufferers carry two doses just in case. Selling EpiPens in packs of two, however, means that if one is lost or used, to replace it, people must buy an extra (essentially doubling their cost) they may not need. The actual dose of the hormone epinephrine (also known as adrenaline) delivered by the device costs approximately $1.
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More at the link.
 
B

Beartruck

Member
Completely gross. I have a family member who needs one of these so they wont die whenever they walk by a bowl of cashews. The medical industry in this country needs to be torn down to the ground level and rebuilt.
 
N

NYCmetsfan

Banned
They're needs to be price controls on drugs.

Insurers are starting to balk at covering these too because of the cost increase. So its out of pocket
 
N

NYCmetsfan

Banned
"The company said in a statement to CBS that the price of its EpiPen “has changed over time to better reflect important product features and the value the product provides," and that "we've made a significant investment to support the device over the past years."
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its a goddamn medicine not a "product" that someone can choose to use
 
H

Hilbert

Deep into his 30th decade
I am supposed to carry them. They expire so fast, and I always forget so I just said screw it.
 
T

Tagyhag

Member
The actual dose of the hormone epinephrine (also known as adrenaline) delivered by the device costs approximately $1.
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Fuck that shit, hope they get shit on like what happened to Martin.
 
O

Old Gimlet Eyes

Member
Working in Animal Medicine, I am routinely disgusted by drug prices. Different pharmacies have different and sometimes extremely varied pricing. Drugs that were just cents per pill are now dollars per pill.
 
T

tebunker

Banned
Fortunately for us, the company provides no cost co-pay assistance.

You can go on the MFGs website and print out the coupon. You personally won't pay a penny.

Sadly, they still over charge your insurance which is also driving costs too high.


Also OP can you provide a link please?
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
“Make sure your child always has an EpiPen(R) Auto-Injector within reach,” reads item number 2 on the “Back To School Homework for parents” webpage hosted by the EpiPen brand owner, pharmaceutical company Mylan.
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Most schools wouldn't even allow this.
 
H

hydrophilic attack

Member
If a company wants to increase the price of a product they have acquired, that is within their rights. If there was a company that was selling an Aston Martin at the price of a bicycle, and we buy that company and we ask to charge Toyota prices, I don’t think that that should be a crime. God bless the free market
 
S

shintoki

sparkle this bitch
1$.... 1$. Being sold for 400.

Bullshit. They should barely hit double digits at most.

And before people say free market, if this was an actual free market, we would have generic brands for sale for 5$.
 
T

tebunker

Banned
hydrophilic attack said:
If a company wants to increase the price of a product they have acquired, that is within their rights. If there was a company that was selling an Aston Martin at the price of a bicycle, and we buy that company and we ask to charge Toyota prices, I don’t think that that should be a crime. God bless the free market
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Except that those are consumer goods not live savng medicine.


And I agree that it is within their rights. It does not make it right.
 
C

ChrisD

Member
I've always been fascinated in a sickened way that there are things and people that can SAVE LIVES that some simply can't make use of because money.

Screw your safety, screw your life, screw human beings, you don't have money.
 
D

Dunfisch

Member
The actual dose of the hormone epinephrine (also known as adrenaline) delivered by the device costs approximately $1.
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The actual dose costs approximately $1.
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costs approximately $1.
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$1.
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Everything that's wrong with the the pharma industry in less words. I won't deny that there's a ton of overhead in the industry - development costs run into tens to hundreds of millions, testing needs to be done in stages and has to be approved bit by bit, regulations demand this and that... but with all this, I still wonder if there just can't be a better way. Makes me want an inlook into the real expenditure and income of pharma giants, see how much of it is raw profit at the end. The number would probably only make me sad.


It is however much more aggravating in this case, given those things used to be far more afordable. I doubt Mylan took long to recoup whatever they invested into their takeover of those things, so a 450% price hike is just insane.
 
G

Gentleman Jack

Member
SirClinksAlot said:
Libertarian GAF will surely be in here soon to tell us why this is a good thing!
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"Just abolish the FDA and within 3 months cheaper competition will emerge because free market! Libertarianism rules!"

Picked up an interview on the topic in my news feed today:

FIX: Why is no one challenging Mylan for supremacy – or at least an equal share – in the EpiPen market?

Swetlitz: Others have been trying. Sanofi marketed the Auvi-Q, a similar product, up until last fall, when it was recalled -- and even when it was on the market, it never made up more than 10 percent of auto-injector prescriptions, according to IMS Health. Teva Pharmaceuticals is trying to get a generic EpiPen out of the factory, but their most recent application was rejected by the FDA.

EpiPen has incredible brand recognition -- it’s like “kleenex” or “xerox.” There are cheaper alternatives, but they have a small market share, and people tell me that they trust the EpiPen brand. If they can afford it, they prefer to shell out a few extra hundred bucks for the real thing.

Mylan has had a lobbying presence in dozens of states, advocating for laws that would increase the availability of epinephrine auto-injectors. They’ve got EpiPens in Disneyland. Even I catch myself saying “EpiPen” when I really mean “epinephrine auto-injector” -- maybe it’s just a mouthful.
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The increasing price of EpiPens is also motivating other companies to step up their game. A Boston startup is designing a smaller auto-injector they hope to have before the FDA in 2 years. A Minnesota allergy doctor is working on a keychain-sized alternative.
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Must suck to have your life hang in the balance on the greed of a single patent abuser.
 
L

LegendofJoe

Member
Biosimilar drugs (i.e. biologic generics) are finally starting to come to market. There will be competition for the Epipen pretty soon.
 
M

mentallyinept

Banned
What the fuck...

I understand wanting to make a buck off of your product, but this is a medicine that people with severe allergies rely on to save their lives within minutes of exposure.

Do we have a system in place to stop this price-gouging shit?
 
F

Fishlake

Member
I'm so glad I'm still covered by my dad's insurance. I have a cousin whose family can't afford these who is also allergic to nuts. It disgusts me how companies like to play with lives for max profit.
 
P

platocplx

Member
Way to hold people hostage because of shit they cant control. I cant believe they are making that much money off of people.

sirap said:
I have no idea why your medical industry is so broken. Is it because of insurance?
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they figure what the hell some body will pay for it. So they will over charge the insurance companies then in turn we get screwed over
 
BigBeauford

BigBeauford

Member
sirap said:
I have no idea why your medical industry is so broken. Is it because of insurance?
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In my experience, they charge ridiculous amounts for drugs during the period where there isn't legally the ability to sell a generic version of the drug to make up for R&D, marketing, and the eventual drop off the cliff in profits once the drug goes generic.
 
H

hydrophilic attack

Member
sirap said:
I have no idea why your medical industry is so broken. Is it because of insurance?
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Yes. And special interests have through campaign funding managed to lobby through that federal government programs like medicare are not allowed to negotiate drug prices, a way in which the government could have used their large bargaining power to bring drug prices down for everyone
 
B

Brakke

Banned
Media said:
Remember when everyone was disgusted when Martin Shkreli raised the cost of HIV medicine?
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Martin Shkreli raised the list price of a toxoplasmosis drug. Which is a disease especially dangerous for people HIV-positive individuals. Daraprim isn't a treatment for HIV/AIDS.
 
F

Flo_Evans

Member
Gentleman Jack said:
"Just abolish the FDA and within 3 months cheaper competition will emerge because free market! Libertarianism rules!"

Picked up an interview on the topic in my news feed today:





Must suck to have your life hang in the balance on the greed of a single patent abuser.
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If there are alternatives I don't really see the problem. If people will shell out for the brand name you would be silly not to charge them.

See every designer clothing.

Its stupid that you would try and make designer medicine, but I don't see a problem as long as its not a monopoly.

BigBeauford said:
In my experience, they charge ridiculous amounts for drugs during the period where there isn't legally the ability to sell a generic version of the drug to make up for R&D, marketing, and the eventual drop off the cliff in profits once the drug goes generic.
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They are not charging for the drug, its a naturally produced hormone. Its the auto-injector.
 
S

Somnid

Member
The US really needs to implement cost-controls on drugs. Being experimental and low usage is one thing, but if it's been around for a while they either need measures to track, and come down on this shit, or maybe look into competitive drug manufacturing as a public service.
 
M

Media

Member
Brakke said:
Martin Shkreli raised the list price of a toxoplasmosis drug. Which is a disease especially dangerous for people HIV-positive individuals. Daraprim isn't a treatment for HIV/AIDS.
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Sorry, I was confused. Will edit! Thanks for the correction.
 
L

LegendofJoe

Member
shintoki said:
1$.... 1$. Being sold for 400.

Bullshit. They should barely hit double digits at most.

And before people say free market, if this was an actual free market, we would have generic brands for sale for 5$.
Click to expand...

Biologic drugs cannot be 100 percent copied, there is no such thing as generics when it comes to these drugs. They can be close approximations though - that's why the term is biosimilar. We had to produce an entirely new regulatory structure and pathway to get them approved and they're just now starting to hit the market (Europe has had rhem for 5 years).

It's also important to know that biologic drugs are expensive to produce, so although biosimilar drugs will be cheaper they'll never be as affordable as regular generic drugs.
 
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