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

I feel that generic alternatives for ransom pricing on essential drugs is a kind of warez that would be widely accepted, even moreso than sharing movies or software. The only problem would be ensuring quality control in uncontrolled knockoffs. This makes me sick and angry. I want Bill Gates and/or others among the hyperwealthy to start buying drug patents and open-sourcing them/releasing them to the public domain. He doesn't need the money after all, so he can afford to pull a reverse Shkreli.

what the fuck is that price hike

[QUOTE=wingless;50910161]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] At least you CAN get epinephrine since there's no patent on it. It's just that long term stable storage is somewhat difficult, and you need to use more conventional needles and other equipment. Source: Former coworker has extremely nasty reactions to bee stings and keeps needles and the other equipment all over their house, in addition to a few epipens for on the go. It's actually quite cheap for them to keep the conventional stuff loaded and ready to go all over the place, and rotating stock every 6 months or year or whatever it is, isn't very hard. I'm sure there's some legal quagmire involved with carrying needles around, but on private property, nobody gives a shit.

With Quebec's shitty public health coverage my girlfriend got hers covered for free, not sure if it works this way all over Canada.

[QUOTE=Silentfood;50910289]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[/QUOTE] That'd be fine and all except not everyone has insurance and not everyone has insurance that'll cover medication like this. Insurance companies need to be able to sustain themselves to be useful to their customers. What fucks them over fucks everyone over.

[QUOTE=Helix Snake;50910105]Martin Shkreli, part 2[/QUOTE] [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/b8uCuhZ.png[/IMG]

that fucking harambe avatar though

[QUOTE=elixwhitetail;50910336]I feel that generic alternatives for ransom pricing on essential drugs is a kind of warez that would be widely accepted, even moreso than sharing movies or software. The only problem would be ensuring quality control in uncontrolled knockoffs. This makes me sick and angry. I want Bill Gates and/or others among the hyperwealthy to start buying drug patents and open-sourcing them/releasing them to the public domain. He doesn't need the money after all, so he can afford to pull a reverse Shkreli.[/QUOTE] We need something like Musk but for medical world.

[QUOTE=Pascall;50910122]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.[/QUOTE] time to die poor people :^) But seriously now, the fact that companies can pull this shit is disgusting as fuck. People's lives are at stake. Actual LIVES. And companies probably would just reply "business" to that...

so if people can't afford official epipens, and you can't make an equivalent due to patents, will this mean that people who cannot afford this will turn to obtaining this stuff illegally? I imagine your local drug dealer selling you life saving medication on the cheap at some street corner.

[QUOTE=Chaitin;50910409][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/b8uCuhZ.png[/IMG][/QUOTE] Probably a joke account, right? Despite that, I'm very sure theres quite a number of people that think and say that ironicaly, and deem this a completely fair practice.

I always bring an EpiPen to college since I get violent allergic reactions to certain nuts. Our family already spends a ton on medical costs. Hopefully this won't hurt us even more.

Man. Greed sucks

[QUOTE=Rocâ„¢;50910495]Probably a joke account, right? Despite that, I'm very sure theres quite a number of people that think and say that ironicaly, and deem this a completely fair practice.[/QUOTE] Nope, that's his legitimate account as news articles about this testicle guzzler from 2015 link right to it.

Welcome to the United States, where the profits are up and the lives don't matter. That's right, the lives are like a commodity Seriously, this is the USA in a nutshell. People will pay anything to [b]live[/b]. Who knew, right? So why not just jack the prices sky high. A single shot of marcaine which costs $3 per vial to make? $650. Pull 4 wisdom teeth? $1500. Epipens now $500. The fucking paper ketchup holders from McDonalds that hospitals bring you pills in? $20. A $1.40 bag of IV fluid? $400 Three of these are prices that I had to pay myself. 18 minutes worth of a dentist's time and a single shot of numbing stuff (2 separate occasions) cost me more than 2 grand

[QUOTE=Chaitin;50910409][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/b8uCuhZ.png[/IMG][/QUOTE] Yes, Shkreli, it fuckin' should be. This isn't just "trying to make money", it's deliberately exploiting people whose lives [I]literally[/I] depend on your product. People like Shkreli should absolutely be in prison, not the least of which is because they [B]know[/B] they're ruining lives, and fucking [B]gloat[/B] about it because they manage to skirt legality while doing so.

[QUOTE=Da Jester;50910361]With Quebec's shitty public health coverage my girlfriend got hers covered for free, not sure if it works this way all over Canada.[/QUOTE] are you dense? she got her medicine for free and you say we have a shitty coverage? all the stupid shit you can hear sometimes

Sounds an awful lot like there is a bunch of anti-competition involved with the FDA and patent law. Really I think both of those things could use some reform.

[QUOTE=Chaitin;50910409][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/b8uCuhZ.png[/IMG][/QUOTE] why don't you just buy things from me???? I don't understand what this 'afford' thing is, is that the insurance company? buy better insurance then

[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] But the free market will fix it all right??? No regulations would stop all this right?!? This is one side effect of drug companies patenting their drugs and delivery systems. If the patent for the delivery system is vague enough they can essentially "rounded rectangle" anyone else trying to make a simple injector pen. I get that R&D is expensive, but jacking prices up because you know people have no other choice isn't going to recuperate those costs. You'll just make enemies with a lot of poorly people.

[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] EpiPen = epinephrine. It's needle with epinephrine, it is also used for heart attacks (in movies they inject it into heart but that is very bad idea in real life) [quote]When a medical professional gives a person an “adrenaline” shot, the medication in question is called Epinephrine. Epinephrine has many uses in medicine, including cardiac arrest, allergic reactions, asthma attacks, and helping with acute low blood pressures, to name a few. It’s a hormone and a neurotransmitter that acts on several different types of nerve cells. The response involves the stimulation of your “fight or flight” nervous system (sympathetic nervous system).[/quote]

[QUOTE=hexpunK;50910658]You'll just make enemies with a lot of poorly people.[/QUOTE] oh yeah those people who are have virtually 0 representation whatsoever to these guys

[QUOTE=Rocâ„¢;50910495]Probably a joke account, right? [/QUOTE] go look at his twitter. the guy is nuts.

I can buy a round trip ticket to London from Florida for less than it cost for a single Marcaine shot, come to find out. I think if I have an emergency, instead of calling an ambulance (Which a ride in also costs more) I'm just going to book a flight to England

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;50910610]Yes, Shkreli, it fuckin' should be. This isn't just "trying to make money", it's deliberately exploiting people whose lives [I]literally[/I] depend on your product. People like Shkreli should absolutely be in prison, not the least of which is because they [B]know[/B] they're ruining lives, and fucking [B]gloat[/B] about it because they manage to skirt legality while doing so.[/QUOTE] You can contact him if you cant afford the medicine and he will give it to you free of charge.

[QUOTE=Mechanical43;50910635]are you dense? she got her medicine for free and you say we have a shitty coverage? all the stupid shit you can hear sometimes[/QUOTE] I once waited 8 hrs in ER just to get evaluated and prescribed penicillin, ended up paying 60 dollars for one of the most abundant meds in the first world but yeah gg.

I'm more surprised it took them this long to hike the price considering how long they've basically had a monopoly. There must of been a shakeup in the higher-ups.

Why is there a fucking expiration date on EpiPens, its not like adrenaline breaks down over time in the vial.

[QUOTE=The golden;50910695]Just gonna be straight up blunt here and say that the people who do things like this should never be allowed to see the sunlight again from their prison cells. I put shit like this right up there with murder and rape and child abuse as being an act of extreme sociopathy. Fuck every single person involved in this.[/QUOTE] i guess it's kind of like manslaughter except it's legal

[QUOTE=Megadave;50910442]that fucking harambe avatar though[/QUOTE] God should have taken Shrekelli instead of Harambe