EpiPen's 400 Percent Price Hike Has Parents Scrambling - Polidicks

[QUOTE] The cost of saving your child's life has gotten a lot more expensive. Parents getting ready for back-to-school season have another item to toss in the basket along with Trapper Keepers and boxes of pencils — and they're facing sticker shock at the latest price increase. Doctors and patients say the Mylan pharmaceutical company has jacked up the prices for an EpiPen — the portable device that can stop a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction — from around $100 in 2008 to $500 and up today. That's a hike of over 400 percent. "Patients are calling and saying they can't afford it," said Dr. Douglas McMahon, an allergy specialist in Maplewood, Minnesota. "They're between a rock and a hard place." Following a recall by Mylan's chief competitor last year, the company now enjoys a near monopoly. [/QUOTE] [URL]http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/epipen-price-hike-has-parents-kids-allergies-scrambling-ahead-school-n633071[/URL]

disgusting

Martin Shkreli, part 2

Haha so what if some kids die we're getting mad $$$$$$$$

Wait are you serious?? Is there only one company that makes the EpiPen? Because I need them as well and I definitely can't afford fucking $500 what the shit.

I don't know much about EpiPen usage but how often are they needed? You get an allergic reaction and you use it and it is spent or does it have several doses? Either way that is way too much for something so important.

[QUOTE]Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the former presidential contender and a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, told NBC News in a statement: "The drug industry's greed knows no bounds. There's no reason an EpiPen, which costs Mylan just a few dollars to make, should cost families more than $600. The only explanation for Mylan raising the price by six times since 2009 is that the company values profits more than the lives of millions of Americans."[/QUOTE] Sadly true. All the reasons the company provided for the price hike were obvious copouts when the real answer is "we have a monopoly now, suck it".

whats worse is like canadian manufacturers arent allowed to sell in the US even though its the same medicine and they sell for a fraction of the price

There really needs to be some legal limit to how much you can jack up the price of lifesaving/necessary medication. Something like no more than 300% the price of the cost of manufacturing, or something along those lines. Because this shit is ridiculous and its people's lives at stake.

As I understand it this is fault of the FDA, and only effects the US because of it. Alternatives [b]DO[/b] exist, but the FDA refuses to classify them as equivalents. The reason being is because Epipen has patents on their delivery mechanism, anyone making an equivalent has to have a different mechanism, and because of this the FDA refuses to classify them as an equivalent. You can still buy these products but it means your insurance wont cover them. So you're stuck with insane prices. Every other first world country has allowed equivalents, as far as I'm aware. Just not the US.

[QUOTE=CommanderPT;50910147]I don't know much about EpiPen usage but how often are they needed? You get an allergic reaction and you use it and it is spent or does it have several doses? Either way that is way too much for something so important.[/QUOTE] Single usage if I remember correctly, stab yourself to remedy the allergic reaction you experience and it's gone.

[QUOTE=CommanderPT;50910147]I don't know much about EpiPen usage but how often are they needed? You get an allergic reaction and you use it and it is spent or does it have several doses? Either way that is way too much for something so important.[/QUOTE] It's a one time use because it's a needle. Can't reuse it. And in a pack, you get two pens and a practice pen and they need to be purchased annual because they have an expiration date of a year. [editline]18th August 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Exploders;50910175]Single usage if I remember correctly, stab yourself to remedy the allergic reaction you experience and it's gone.[/QUOTE] Doesn't get rid of the reaction entirely, but it allows you time to get medical attention.

[QUOTE=Elspin;50910154]Sadly true. All the reasons the company provided for the price hike were obvious copouts when the real answer is "we have a monopoly now, suck it".[/QUOTE] Too bad nothing is ever going to be done about it since the only politicians with the hearts and balls to do so have just died out.

[QUOTE=wingless;50910161]The reason being is because Epipen has patents on their delivery mechanism, anyone making an equivalent has to have a different mechanism, and because of this the FDA refuses to classify them as an equivalent.[/QUOTE] Why is this even a fucking thing. This isn't a fucking design for some furnature, this is something that literally people's lives depend on.

I am so glad I will finish my allergy shots soon, even though I have never needed them, I am supposed to have them. Just gonna take the risk since my allergy are not really life-threatening.

[QUOTE=Pascall;50910176]It's a one time use because it's a needle. Can't reuse it. And in a pack, you get two pens and a practice pen and they need to be purchased annual because they have an expiration date of a year. [editline]18th August 2016[/editline] Doesn't get rid of the reaction entirely, but it allows you time to get medical attention.[/QUOTE] So they essentially now have a subscription of $500 per year for everyone in the US with a serious allergy? That's insane. Someone at the company decided this and I can't quite get my head around how they sleep at night

[QUOTE=Trumple;50910216]So they essentially now have a subscription of $500 for everyone in the US with a serious allergy? That's insane. Someone at the company decided this and I can't quite get my head around how they sleep at night[/QUOTE] Pretty much. Insurance probably brings price down but... You know, not everyone has insurance that covers that sort of thing. My price for it was about $50 when I got it with my (parent's) insurance, but I guarantee that it'll keep going up since they've decided they don't give a shit and insurance won't be able to keep up. Not to mention that I'll be on my own insurance in about a year and I highly doubt it'll be as good as what we have now. I expect to be paying upwards of a hundred dollars for the damn things. It's fucked up.

[QUOTE=Pascall;50910225]Pretty much. Insurance probably brings price down but... You know, not everyone has insurance that covers that sort of thing. My price for it was about $50 when I got it with my (parent's) insurance, but I guarantee that it'll keep going up since they've decided they don't give a shit and insurance won't be able to keep up. Not to mention that I'll be on my own insurance in about a year and I highly doubt it'll be as good as what we have now. I expect to be paying upwards of a hundred dollars for the damn things. It's fucked up.[/QUOTE] Well hopefully this prompts a reaction from the FDA to allow alternatives

[QUOTE=CommanderPT;50910147]I don't know much about EpiPen usage but how often are they needed? You get an allergic reaction and you use it and it is spent or does it have several doses? Either way that is way too much for something so important.[/QUOTE] Don't know how it works in america but here you get them on prescription but usually only if you're at risk of a life threatening allergic reaction.

[QUOTE=RainbowStalin;50910236]Don't know how it works in america but here you get them on prescription but usually only if you're at risk of a life threatening allergic reaction.[/QUOTE] Works the same here. You need a prescription for them.

Is there an actual reason for this jump in price or is this just another arbitrary pharmaceutical price hike to abuse a monopoly?

[QUOTE=Trumple;50910216]So they essentially now have a subscription of $500 per year for everyone in the US with a serious allergy? That's insane. Someone at the company decided this and I can't quite get my head around how they sleep at night[/QUOTE] On the most comfortable bed money can buy, most likely

Fucking Hell, man. Why aren't there laws in place to prevent greedy shit like this? I wonder if this affects prices outside of the US as well, since I need to carry one around as well.

[QUOTE=Sitkero;50910246]Is there an actual reason for this jump in price or is this just another arbitrary pharmaceutical price hike to abuse a monopoly?[/QUOTE] No reason for it. Just another Shkreli deal where jacking up the prices for a necessary medication seems to be a solid "business plan" for these dicks. [editline]18th August 2016[/editline] I don't get heated about SH topics very often but this has me pretty upset.

I'm not sure how medical patents would work on the injector itself, but here's hoping a generic version of it comes out and screws over the monopoly Mylan has over people's lives.

[QUOTE=Sitkero;50910246]Is there an actual reason for this jump in price or is this just another arbitrary pharmaceutical price hike to abuse a monopoly?[/QUOTE] iirc shkreli explained that it's to profit from insurance companies and not the patients. they raise it up so insurance companies pay more and the end user doesn't see that figure unless they read the part of their medical bill without insurance covering the majority. as dumb as it sounds, internally the pharma companies profit hard via the insurance company. i may be wrong though, i have little to no experience with health insurance

The US is such a fucked up country, fucking hell.

The wonders of privatized medicine.

[QUOTE=Spetsnaz95;50910262]Fucking Hell, man. Why aren't there laws in place to prevent greedy shit like this? I wonder if this affects prices outside of the US as well, since I need to carry one around as well.[/QUOTE] it seems not, just looked online in nz and it seems you can get an epipen branded one for 90 usd.

[QUOTE=CommanderPT;50910147]I don't know much about EpiPen usage but how often are they needed? You get an allergic reaction and you use it and it is spent or does it have several doses? Either way that is way too much for something so important.[/QUOTE] its not that they're being used its that they have a 6 month shelf life so you buy one for school and its expired by the end of the year and then you have to decide if you risk an expired dose of life saving medicine or buy the fresh one. its a disgusting choice that people of america should not have to be making and its disgraceful that we allow this to happen time and time again