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US Patients Battle EpiPen Prices And Regulations By Shopping Online (cnn.com)
"The incredible increase in the cost of EpiPens, auto-injectors that can stop life-threatening emergencies caused by allergic reactions, has hit home on Capitol Hill," reports CNN. Slashdot reader Applehu Akbar reports that the argument "has now turned into civil war in the US Senate":
One senator's daughter relies on Epi-Pen, while another senator's daughter is CEO of Mylan, the single company that is licensed to sell these injectors in the US. On the worldwide market there is no monopoly on these devices... Is it finally time to allow Americans to go online and fill their prescriptions on the world market?
Time reports some patients are ordering cheaper EpiPens from Canada and other countries online, "an act that the FDA says is technically illegal and potentially dangerous." But the FDA also has "a backlog of about 4,000 generic drugs" awaiting FDA approval, reports PRI, noting that in the meantime prices have also increased for drugs treating cancer, hepatitis C, and high cholesterol. In Australia, where the drug costs just $38, one news outlet reports that the U.S. "is the only developed nation on Earth which allows pharmaceutical companies to set their own prices."
Time reports some patients are ordering cheaper EpiPens from Canada and other countries online, "an act that the FDA says is technically illegal and potentially dangerous." But the FDA also has "a backlog of about 4,000 generic drugs" awaiting FDA approval, reports PRI, noting that in the meantime prices have also increased for drugs treating cancer, hepatitis C, and high cholesterol. In Australia, where the drug costs just $38, one news outlet reports that the U.S. "is the only developed nation on Earth which allows pharmaceutical companies to set their own prices."
Ban drug ad's like most developed nations do!
You're aware that the senator whose daughter is CEO of Mylan is a Democrat, right? Greed isn't a left nor right issue. It's not a conservative nor liberal issue, it's a people issue.
Epi-pen dosage is 0.3 mg of epinephrine. One dose from a Primatene mist inhaler releases 0.22 mg of epinephrine, exactly the same active ingredient as an Epi-pen. There are over 60 doses per Primatene mist inhaler. at a cost of about 50 cents per dose. Several years ago Primatene Mist was removed from the market. Our health care system is now fully controlled by corporations that don't give a rat's ass if we live or die as long as their profits continue to skyrocket, at any cost. Health insurance companies could fight back. But they don't appear to care, as they just raise their rates to cover the excessive and escalating cost of life saving prescription drugs. Having asthma, and having worked with suppliers of delivery mechanisms during my career, I estimate the cost of goods sold per Epi-pen is about $2 to $3 each. Any figures beyond that are profit. Any higher CGS presented by Mylan, should they choose to do so, are likely accounting techniques where they move ongoing R&D costs onto old and fully paid for products. The retail price of Mylan's Epi-pen is legalized theft such that Al Capone would be proud.