Rising Epipen Prices

jthomas666

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Quick intro: Epipens are epinephrine autoinjectors for use by people suffering from severe allergic reactions. Over the last several years, the prices have skyrocketed, from $57 for a two-pack in 2007 to $600. The basic design hasn't changed in decades. And the last big price increase came shortly after the main producer of a generic version had to pull their product off the shelves.

Here's where it gets interesting.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, a Democrat whose daughter relies on EpiPen, urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate the price increase of the medication, calling it "unjustified."

Meanwhile, the daughter of Sen. Joe Manchin, the Democrat of West Virginia, has a very different personal connection. His daughter Heather Bresch heads Mylan, the company that produces EpiPens.
 

Bamaro

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"My frustration is there's a list price of $608," Bresch said. "There is a system ... I laid out that there are four or five hands that the product touches and companies that it goes through before it ever gets to that patient at the counter."

"That $608 is a list price," Bresch said. "What Mylan takes from that, our net sales is $274, so $137 per pen," she said, referring to the fact that EpiPens are sold in packages of two devices.

She noted that Mylan has costs that include "manufacturing the product, distributing the product, enhancing the product, investing."

"Everybody should be frustrated," Bresch said. "I am hoping that this is an inflection point for this country. Our health care is in crisis. It's no different than the mortgage financial crisis back in 2007."
:conf2:
 

Tidewater

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Quick intro: Epipens are epinephrine autoinjectors for use by people suffering from severe allergic reactions. Over the last several years, the prices have skyrocketed, from $57 for a two-pack in 2007 to $600. The basic design hasn't changed in decades. And the last big price increase came shortly after the main producer of a generic version had to pull their product off the shelves.

Here's where it gets interesting.
Not clicking on CNN (it encourages them to think people actually read their bilge) but is there some reason that a chemical solution in an autoinjector cannot be reproduced by any pharmaceutical company? I understand the patenting process, but is there not some sunset of patent protection? It seems like epipens have been around for quite a while.

Then Again, isn't Minnesota close to Canada?
 

Jon

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Not clicking on CNN (it encourages them to think people actually read their bilge) but is there some reason that a chemical solution in an autoinjector cannot be reproduced by any pharmaceutical company? I understand the patenting process, but is there not some sunset of patent protection? It seems like epipens have been around for quite a while.

Then Again, isn't Minnesota close to Canada?
if you believe this, its the Pen itself and the FDA that is giving Mylan the protection to jack up prices

https://mises.org/blog/lack-epipen-competitors-fdas-fault

There’s a new bout of outrage over an expensive medicine or medical treatment. While the good in question changes each time, the blame always seems to fall on greedy corporations who just aren’t regulated enough. Free markets and capitalism are the scapegoat, even when nothing remotely resembling unhampered markets in health care is in place in the United States.

This time, it’s the EpiPen, a device that easily and safely injects epinephrine to quickly open up airways for people undergoing severe anaphylaxis because of an extreme allergy. It has saved the lives of countless people who are allergic to bee stings, certain foods, or other drugs because it can be administered on the spot by somebody without any medical training.
 

bama_wayne1

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Nothing to see here.....she paid her dues to the Hillary for President campaign
 
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Tidewater

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if you believe this, its the Pen itself and the FDA that is giving Mylan the protection to jack up prices

https://mises.org/blog/lack-epipen-competitors-fdas-fault
Can't be right. The author is an Auburn grad.

I agree, it seems to me the autoinjector is the issue. The medicine itself is cheap and the patent on that has expired.
Now, if I (or my child) had a violent allergy to bee stings (or whatever), it seems like I should be able to go to a doc, find out what dosage I would need (based on age, weight, sex, etc.), get a simple plastic needle with that dose, and put that into a hard plastic case, and carry that case with me whenever I went outside. Who/what agency is stopping me from doing that?
 

jthomas666

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Can't be right. The author is an Auburn grad.

I agree, it seems to me the autoinjector is the issue. The medicine itself is cheap and the patent on that has expired.
Now, if I (or my child) had a violent allergy to bee stings (or whatever), it seems like I should be able to go to a doc, find out what dosage I would need (based on age, weight, sex, etc.), get a simple plastic needle with that dose, and put that into a hard plastic case, and carry that case with me whenever I went outside. Who/what agency is stopping me from doing that?
In fact, the first allergy kit I had was just a prefilled syringe in a plastic case. But it's far from an optimal solution. The advantage of the autoinjector is that it's relatively foolproof and very easy to use--critical considerations when you consider that the injection is likely to be administered by someone with no medical training or someone in the throes of anaphylactic shock, or that the patient may be a small child unwilling to hold still for long.

Besides, according to the Mises.org article, the FDA has put the kibosh on prefilled syringes.
 

Jon

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Can't be right. The author is an Auburn grad.

I agree, it seems to me the autoinjector is the issue. The medicine itself is cheap and the patent on that has expired.
Now, if I (or my child) had a violent allergy to bee stings (or whatever), it seems like I should be able to go to a doc, find out what dosage I would need (based on age, weight, sex, etc.), get a simple plastic needle with that dose, and put that into a hard plastic case, and carry that case with me whenever I went outside. Who/what agency is stopping me from doing that?
The Mises institute is one of the few good things to ever come out of Auburn. Like all political organizations they tend to hold more to dogma than fact on occasion but outside of that I concur with much of their views as I do on this topic.
 

Tidewater

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Besides, according to the Mises.org article, the FDA has put the kibosh on prefilled syringes.
Yeah, but why? If the treatment (medicine and delivery system) existed and were okay before EpiPens, why stop allowing it?
EpiPens may be better (for the reasons you cited), but if you can't afford an EpiPen, is just dying from anaphylactic shock really better than the dangers of a pre-filled syringe?
I suspect that the EpiPen manufacturer has asked the FDA to stomp on their competition. That is unethical.
 

Tidewater

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The Mises institute is one of the few good things to ever come out of Auburn. Like all political organizations they tend to hold more to dogma than fact on occasion but outside of that I concur with much of their views as I do on this topic.
I had an hours-long conversation with Joe Stromberg in the LvMI library there one day. Stromberg is enormously well-read and a very good author.
Lew Rockwell, on the other hand, was deeply suspicious of me when I met him.
 

jthomas666

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Yeah, but why? If the treatment (medicine and delivery system) existed and were okay before EpiPens, why stop allowing it?
EpiPens may be better (for the reasons you cited), but if you can't afford an EpiPen, is just dying from anaphylactic shock really better than the dangers of a pre-filled syringe?
I suspect that the EpiPen manufacturer has asked the FDA to stomp on their competition. That is unethical.
I'd be willing bet on it, particularly given that Mylan has also lobbied for legislation requiring that all schools keep epipens stocked, as well as additional legislation requiring airlines to keep epipens on all of their planes. That's a LOT of epipens. And they have to be replaced every year.
 

Tidewater

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I'd be willing bet on it, particularly given that Mylan has also lobbied for legislation requiring that all schools keep epipens stocked, as well as additional legislation requiring airlines to keep epipens on all of their planes. That's a LOT of epipens. And they have to be replaced every year.
As I'm sure you've noticed, I am pretty cynical about government, especially the Federal government, but stuff like this does little to decrease my skepticism.
I understand Mylan's desire to maximize profits, but the FDA reducing patients' options bothers me.
 

AV8N

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I've seen pre filled syringes for other meds. One had a spring loaded mechanism that would retract so that the uncapped needle was not exposed after use. Not sure what makes the Epipen so special.
 

mrusso

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When I had my blood clots I had prescription pre-filled syringes that I used daily.
 

jthomas666

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Not sure what makes the Epipen so special.
It's the "near-foolproof" aspect of it. If you've having a severe reaction, your throat may be swelling shut, and you're starting to asphyxiate...you might even be losing consciousness by the time you get your hands on the medicine. In some cases it takes a while for the reaction to develop, but in some cases it can happen within seconds. You need an option that is easy and that does not require much in the way of fine motor control. With the epipen, you just jam it against your thigh--the needle extends into the skin, the medicine is injected, and the needle retracts.
 

92tide

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It's the "near-foolproof" aspect of it. If you've having a severe reaction, your throat may be swelling shut, and you're starting to asphyxiate...you might even be losing consciousness by the time you get your hands on the medicine. In some cases it takes a while for the reaction to develop, but in some cases it can happen within seconds. You need an option that is easy and that does not require much in the way of fine motor control. With the epipen, you just jam it against your thigh--the needle extends into the skin, the medicine is injected, and the needle retracts.
regular syringes are near foolproof

 

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