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posted by
martyb
on Tuesday August 23 2016, @07:34AM
from the staying-alive-is-getting-more-expensive dept.
from the staying-alive-is-getting-more-expensive dept.
EpiPen's price has ballooned about 400% since 2008, rising from about a $100 list price to $500 today. The EpiPen is one of the most important life-saving medical innovations for people with severe food allergies—which affect as many as 15 million Americans and 1 in 13 children in the United States. But its price has exploded over the last decade despite few upgrades to the product itself. The product's lack of competitors is likely a significant driver of the costs. [...] [The] EpiPen enjoys a near-monopoly on the market with annual sales of more than $1.3 billion and nearly 90% U.S. market share.
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EpiPen's Price Increased 400% since 2008
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* m2 stares at the monitor... it looks like a hamburger...
m2 - that's a bad sign
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Tuesday August 23 2016, @06:18PM
$20 for about 50 doses.
If your kid was a 100 pound horse, that is...
What has me so all fired worked up is this is the same chemical needed to save a kid's life !!!!!
But if the child needs it, hold the parents hostage for whatever they can pay, cuz they play this trick on the horse owners, they might fight back.
Here's the deal, which I'm surprised no one has really explained on this thread yet. The high cost for the EpiPen is NOT for the epinephrine (which, as you point out, costs next to nothing). The cost is for the delivery system, i.e., the "autoinjector."
The patent over these things expired a while back, but the FDA has been dragging its feet in approving generics, because they require studies to demonstrate that the generic versions have the same success rate and are as easy to use. Still, there are generics on the market, and you can get your doctor to prescribe one. But many haven't received "official" approval yet. (And even then, the generics appear to be priced at greater than $100, which is still preposterous in my opinion.)
Of course, the clear solution is simply to buy the ampules of epinephrine [pbs.org] for about $5/piece (safer to buy individual doses rather than the bulk horse amounts you listed for people unaccustomed to measuring syringes in emergency situations), and a couple generic syringes.
Although there is a little more you need to know about injecting epinephrine directly than using an EpiPen, it doesn't require a "trained medical professional" as some people claim. Any reasonably competent person can be taught the proper procedure and warnings in 15 minutes, rather than the 2 minutes you learn to use an EpiPen. And you'll save many hundreds of dollars.
This is a SERIOUS medical and budgetary issue not just for individuals but for emergency services. If you read the link I gave above, you'll see a story about a Fire Department which spends 3% of its operating budget each year just to stock EpiPens. The amount just for one year could pay for EMT training for five firefighters.
What we really need is more physicians willing to take the time and teach patients proper injection procedures. If there's concern about dosing and handling ampules, it's very easy to create a case of pre-filled syringes (filled by a "medical professional" if you really want to take the extra safety steps), which will be chemically stable and sterile for at least 3 months.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Wednesday August 24 2016, @02:36AM
For all the harping some organizations do about the EpiPen being easier and safer to use, I just don't see it. It's too easy for someone to take the pen analogy too far and hold the wrong end against the patient's leg while pressing the "button" on top like you would a ball point. OUCH!
OTOH, I can't think of anyone who wouldn't immediately know what end of the hypodermic syringe to apply to the patient.
The people concerned for safety need to realize that the fair comparison for many is pre-measured syringe or nothing at all. The $700 auto injector isn't even a contender.