Tuesday, August 23, 2016

DAILY GASP 10.23.16

EpiPEN : Highway Robbery

The manufacturer of the EpiPen - the #1 lifesaving device used in the need of immediate injections of epinephrin for prevention of anaphylaxis, Mylan Sucrit has raised the price to over $400 USD / unit (pen).  And in many countries ONLY sell in 2-pak containers. 
As if the pricing were not enough of an issue epinephrine has a shelf-life of only 18 months!  So EpiPens must be replaced every two years.

The pricing in the 1990’s was roughly $25 USD per Pen.  Mylan purchased the original pharmaceutical manufacturer of EpiPen (2007) then gradually raised the list price from approximately $50 per auto-injector to over $600 for the, in many places, manditory - two-pack unit. This one move boosted EpiPen profits to $1.1 billion a year.  

The pure greed move put 10’s of thousands of lives at risk. How much lower can the pharmaceutical manufacturing element go?  I’m sure they’ll find a way down.

-- UPDATE --

See article DAILY GASP 08.20.18 for an update on the EpiPen crisis... a bit of relief.