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Price-gouging Maker of EpiPen Literally Said That Critics Can Go Fuck Themselves (gizmodo.com)

Back in August of 2016, the pharmaceutical company Mylan came under fire for jacking up prices of the EpiPen from $57 in 2007 to roughly $600 in 2016. The public backlash has been significant. Gizmodo adds: But the chairman of Mylan has a message for any critics: Go fuck yourself. Well, at least that's what we think he said. The New York Times has a new article about the fact that prices for the live-saving allergy medication haven't actually come down since last year. And the article has a rather strange way of describing the attitude of Mylan chairman Robert Coury. This is how the New York Times describes Coury's reaction to critics of Mylan's price gouging: "Mr. Coury replied that he was untroubled. He raised both his middle fingers and explained, using colorful language, that anyone criticizing Mylan, including its employees, ought to go copulate with themselves. Critics in Congress and on Wall Street, he said, should do the same. And regulators at the Food and Drug Administration? They, too, deserved a round of anatomically challenging self-fulfillment."

12 of 459 comments (clear)

  1. Government should just drop the product. by jellomizer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The epipen isn't the only player in the market, its popularity is due to schools support for it, as an easy way to administer the drug. If it is too expensive the schools should consider a replacement. And have this guy just blame critics in the poor house with a stack of epipens that he will sell at a loss.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    1. Re:Government should just drop the product. by Luthair · · Score: 5, Informative

      There are alternative auto-injectors - http://www.consumerreports.org...

    2. Re:Government should just drop the product. by Nidi62 · · Score: 5, Informative

      The epipen isn't the only player in the market, its popularity is due to schools support for it, as an easy way to administer the drug. .

      The schools have support for it because they are legally required to do so. Schools are legally required to carry epinephrone pens, and Mylan took steps to become the dominant player in the epinephrine autoinjector market; so much so that "epipen" is now on the same level as kleenex, bandaid, or xerox in that it is now essentially a generic term for any epinephrine injector pen. Oh, yeah, and one of their top executives also happens to be the daughter of a senator. I'm sure that didn't have any bearing when it came to lobbying efforts.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    3. Re:Government should just drop the product. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That'd be all good and well, if there weren't patents preventing other players from entering the market.

      Perhaps patents shouldn't last as ridiculously long for devices that save lives... ... just a thought.

      I'm all for companies being paid to make up for R&D costs, but sometimes common sense should be observed.

    4. Re:Government should just drop the product. by Pascoea · · Score: 5, Informative

      That'd be all good and well, if there weren't patents preventing other players from entering the market.

      If only there were already competing devices out there, for 1/6th of the price, that would solve this entire problem. https://theoutline.com/post/88...

    5. Re:Government should just drop the product. by russotto · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yeah, the whole epi-pen thing is blatant rent-seeking. Get your product legally required, get alternatives stuck in regulatory and patent limbo, jack up the price and rake in the bucks.

    6. Re:Government should just drop the product. by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I didn't vote for the "Republican" guys either. I'm just pointing out, that people that like to equate (R) with evil and corrupt every time some Chairman of some company is Republican and does something evil, are the same people who make excuses when it is a (D) doing it.

      Your case just proves my point. When everything the left hates is "Political" and when it is something that shines poorly upon the (D), it is "Get Fucked trying to make this political".

      Being a Libertarian, I understand the dangers of political manipulation of the Economy, at both the micro and macro points of the model. I am actually probably, on your side on this one. However, my solution isn't "more government control" and "Regulation" it is less. You see, since the whole problem was caused by government regulation in the first place (half dozen key regulations in fact). But that doesn't work for liberals who think that the first and only solution to a problem is "MOAR GOVERNMENT".

      And here is a key fact, there are other ways to administer Epinephrine besides EpiPen. In fact there are several "open source" style kits out there that do the same kind of thing, for a whole lot less money.

      http://www.consumerreports.org...
      http://spectrum.ieee.org/the-h...

      Instead of whining about EpiPen costs, vote with your dollars and get the less expensive version of your choice. And ask that the Government deregulate the mandates to use EpiPens.

      The key to power is information and choice. Government regulations that remove "choices" are to blame here. But so is being lazy, and not getting the information you need to make the choices you could be making.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  2. Re:I really hope by stealth_finger · · Score: 5, Informative

    You think that the government would be less bloated? We are talking about the government. They created the concept of ineffectual bloat and then expanded, enhanced and perfected it. The government home of the $50,000 hammer. No, private industry with a profit motive will always be more efficient than government bureaucrats with no motive at all for efficiency and service. Take a look at the deadly mess that is the VA and tell me single payer is better.

    Are you talking about the bloat private companies invented to charge to the gov because they can get away with it? It's always going to be cheaper and better to have public services, if for nothing else no one is looking to profit off it and any extra money made goes back into the service or others. It's in private industry with a profit motive it's all but encouraged to cut service and increase price. If you truly think that's better you're deluded. I don't know about your VA but I'd be willing to bet most of it's problems will be caused by subcontracting to private companies.

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  3. Re: That's difficult to do by KGIII · · Score: 5, Informative

    There are varied degrees. I am allergic to bees. With most, I'll swell up and have some throat constriction. With a few, I'll have a reasonable amount of time to seek treatment. With a very small number, a single sting is enough to mean I need immediate treatment, or I will die. Most of the time, I won't need any treatment at all. I'll just have to calm down and ensure I keep breathing well enough.

    If you're curious, I don't even bother carrying my shot kit. It is fairly unlikely that I will need it and there's usually one that I can access, if I have enough time.

    --
    "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  4. I have an EpiPen by paiute · · Score: 5, Funny

    My friend gave it to me as he was dying. It seemed very important to him that I have it.

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    If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
  5. Re:That's difficult to do by MightyMartian · · Score: 5, Funny

    Perhaps we should stick Mr. Coury's head in a beehive for a few minutes and then see if he can masturbate. Totally for science, of course!

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  6. Re:That's difficult to do by tchdab1 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The readily available components for this - a one-dose vial of epinephrine and an appropriate syringe - costs less than $10, less than $5 if you shop around. People are reluctant to use those because it's more complex and cumbersome than an epipen, but they should. Especially backup doses.
    And items like this the USA should just declare eminent domain and manufacture/distribute them at cost. This goes for any patented medicine not made available in sufficient quantity and at cost with not more than reasonable profit.