NY Times: Price Rise Sparks Concern for Allergy Sufferers

[Springfield]

 

A steep increase in the price of the EpiPen, a lifesaving injection device for people with severe allergies, has sparked outrage among consumers and lawmakers who worry that parents won’t be able to afford the pens for children heading back to school.

With a quick stab to the thigh, the EpiPen dispenses epinephrine, a drug that reverses swelling, closing of the airways and other symptoms of a severe allergic reaction to bee stings, peanuts or other allergens. 

Mylan, the pharmaceutical company, acquired the decades-old product in 2007, when pharmacies paid less than $100 for a two-pen set, and has since been steadily raising the wholesale price. In 2009, a pharmacy paid $103.50 for a set. By July 2013 the price was up to $264.50, and it rose 75 percent to $461 by last May. This May the price spiked again to $608.61, according to data provided by Elsevier Clinical Solutions’ Gold Standard Drug Database.

 

http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/well/2016/08/22/epipen-price-rise-sparks-concern-for-allergy-sufferers/?referer=https://www.google.com/

[Fergasun]

Yet, its Obamacare thats to blame... 

The for-profit Health Care scam industry needs a kick in the nuts.  All around (Congress, insurers, providers)  because they are destroying our country.   

Maybe in 5 years Google or Apple or Microsoft will jump in and fund boatloads of generics....  because there must be someone willing to just take a couple ounces of flesh instead of a pound.   

[twa]

I;m sure Obamacare will cover it...but then my daughter doesn't have that.

[skinsfan1523]

How do these pharmaceutical executives sleep at night?  

[PokerPacker]

Looks like some people look up to Schreli (or whatever that piece of ****'s name is) as a hero.

[Destino]

57 minutes ago, skinsfan1523 said:

How do these pharmaceutical executives sleep at night?  

On piles of money.  Wild guess: the executives or at least the CEO of this company received large pay increases during the time of this reprenhsible price gouging.  That's what this game is all about.

edit:. Just googled it.  Try to act surprised.

Quote

The pharmaceutical CEO whose company raised the price of EpiPens by more than 400% was rewarded with a 671% raise.

Heather Bresch and other executives at Mylan Pharmaceuticals have been criticized for increasing the price of the devices to prevent fatal allergy reactions from less than $100 for a pair in 2007 to more than $500 today.

Bresch, who was president in 2007 and has since become chief executive of the global pharma giant, went from making $2,453,456 nine years ago to $18,931,068 last year, according to filings from the company.

The pay increase, first reported by NBC News, came as Mylan repeatedly raised the price of the live-saving epinephrine device by increments of 5, 10 and 15%.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/mylan-ceo-600-pay-increase-epipen-price-raise-article-1.2762769

[Bang]

****ing disgusting.

Guillotining some of these people would be too good for them. There is no excuse for this.

 

~Bang

[pjfootballer]

All hail capitalism. Don't ya love it!

[Elessar78]

Like I posted on my FB, if you feel this is wrong thenmake sure your congressional representatives know about it.

Sadly, law of unintended consequences in play here... Gizmodo article outlining White House and Congress' complicity in allowing this price gouging to occur: 

How Congress, the FDA, and Sarah Jessica Parker Helped EpiPen Become a $1 Billion Business

[zoony]

Free markets dude. Let's let it fly what could go wrong

[Riggo-toni]

CEO is the daughter of a Democrat senator.

[Elessar78]

20 minutes ago, zoony said:

Free markets dude. Let's let it fly what could go wrong

We claimed victory too early. Marx did say that Capitalism would destroy itself. 

[twa]

11 minutes ago, Riggo-toni said:

CEO is the daughter of a Democrat senator.

 

and Mylan is his second largest donor

[TheGreatBuzz]

And this is why I'm pro-death penalty.  Though I think things like this need to be included as eligible crimes.

[Fergasun]

All over-exagerated anger aside - DoJ needs to step in and prosecute for price-fixing/price-gouging. 

If they did that across the board to the entire "health care provider" industry, prices would drop to a reasonable letter.

Congress just plays games with public hearings, faux outrage, and inquiries.

[HOF44]

This is what happens with pure capitalism with no federal over site. Same thing happens in the banking industry, but the victimization isn't as dramatic or emotional so it does not garner the attention. 

[Renegade7]

1 hour ago, pjfootballer said:

All hail capitalism. Don't ya love it!

 

Capitalism isn't the problem.  It's some select individuals that are making decisions that require checks and balances from the government.  If it was truly hopeless, government would've be getting involved here.

[pjfootballer]

3 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

 

Capitalism isn't the problem.  It's some select individuals that are making decisions that require checks and balances from the government.  If it was truly hopeless, government would've be getting involved here.

It was said in a "tongue in cheek" sort of way.  I'm not advocating we get rid of capitalism and go to socialism or something like that.  But it was more of a jab at the inherent GREED of individuals in this country.  But, it's to be expected as we've all been raised to think that way for the most part.

[twa]

13 minutes ago, HOF44 said:

This is what happens with pure capitalism with no federal over site. Same thing happens in the banking industry, but the victimization isn't as dramatic or emotional so it does not garner the attention. 

 

and the feds can simply create the problem by limiting suppliers .

things are out of balance in many areas

[gbear]

I have written on this subject for more than a year now. The answers already exist, but they require political will.  Back during the anthrax scare, there was only one drug to treat it, and the supplier raised prices dramatically due to the increased demand.  Congress threatened to invoke the clause in the patent saying the government can revoke the patent allowing anyone to produce the drug.  Suddenly, my daughter's (Medicaid)  cipro got a lot cheaper.

The government needs to begin looking at what our state sponsored insurance is paying for drugs and have cost point at which the government will buy a patent and make it available for all.  I began saying this with the Hep C treatments costing 100k.  Now we are talking about epi pens which cost less per unit but are needed by an even more broad section of the population.  Look at the costs and make a decision that makes fiscal sense for the healthcare system as a whole.  Now saying this, I do not know if $500 epi pens rise to that threshold, but they very well may.  It may require a different fix, but I would advocate looking at the existing laws to threaten revocation of patents as a first step.

[Destino]

I lack the expertise to know what I'm talking about, but there seems to be no consumer driven downward pressure on drug prices and very little real competition.  Consider what most of us do when spending 500 dollars on a single item.  We're generally aware of options and might even research them a bit (I research everything I buy that costs over 50 bucks as a general rule, because I'm strange).  Many shop around, check online, and try to find the best price.  

How many do that for prescriptions?  If any research is done I'd bet 90% is on side effects and drug interactions.  Not price.  Not competitor.  Certainly not where it can be obtained for less.  The people doing that are the uninsured that suddenly find themselves in need of something they can't afford.  

That's how our entire health care system seems to work.  No one knows which ER near their house is the cheapest other than maybe those that have to pay for it themselves.  The industry as a whole does not compete on price in the US for most of its consumers.  

So what mechanism exists to offset a company from finding a drug or service they can wildly increase in price?  

[Elessar78]

1 hour ago, pjfootballer said:

It was said in a "tongue in cheek" sort of way.  I'm not advocating we get rid of capitalism and go to socialism or something like that.  But it was more of a jab at the inherent GREED of individuals in this country.  But, it's to be expected as we've all been raised to think that way for the most part.

Yep, unrestrained/unchecked capitalism is just as bad as the manufactured communism the USSR was peddling.

[Renegade7]

1 hour ago, pjfootballer said:

It was said in a "tongue in cheek" sort of way.  I'm not advocating we get rid of capitalism and go to socialism or something like that.  But it was more of a jab at the inherent GREED of individuals in this country.  But, it's to be expected as we've all been raised to think that way for the most part.

 

I figured that.

 

A lot of people have thrown their hands up on the situation (either they except the greed, or believe its not fixable and want to try something else).  Des brought up an interesting point about shopping around for drugs, but I'm not sure how people feel about looking for alternatives to what their doctor has prescribed them, which I feel makes the conversation different then whether to get a PS4, XBox One, or a Wii.

 

I recently saw this concept called " fiduciary ", that has recently been required for all financial advisers, not just a couple, via the Department of Labor.  I'm curious where else this concept can be applied without getting too carried away with it.

[gbear]

Destino, the problems are with availability and competition.  The epi pen is widely used/understood.  We can send our kids to school with one knowing the school nurse can administer it if needed.  There is no other widely available substitute.  In large part, this is a result of our patent law preventing competition.  There is no reason we can not enable other providers if this one is holding a gun to our healthcare system as a whole.  What we need though is a mechanism by which we enable and require decisions to be made when it comes to invalidating or buying patents to enable other companies to manufacture needed products.

[Springfield]

1 hour ago, Destino said:

I lack the expertise to know what I'm talking about, but there seems to be no consumer driven downward pressure on drug prices and very little real competition.  Consider what most of us do when spending 500 dollars on a single item.  We're generally aware of options and might even research them a bit (I research everything I buy that costs over 50 bucks as a general rule, because I'm strange).  Many shop around, check online, and try to find the best price.  

How many do that for prescriptions?  If any research is done I'd bet 90% is on side effects and drug interactions.  Not price.  Not competitor.  Certainly not where it can be obtained for less.  The people doing that are the uninsured that suddenly find themselves in need of something they can't afford.  

That's how our entire health care system seems to work.  No one knows which ER near their house is the cheapest other than maybe those that have to pay for it themselves.  The industry as a whole does not compete on price in the US for most of its consumers.  

So what mechanism exists to offset a company from finding a drug or service they can wildly increase in price?  

 

This is why I don't believe that capitalism works for the health care industry.

 

We, as uninformed patients, don't have the knowledge at hand to make an informed decision on what medical treatment we should use and why, or where, or really how.  No, in fact we pay our physicians and doctors a whole lot of money to do this for us.  They know how we need to treat ourselves.  What we know, is that when he/she gives us a script for some drug we've never heard of we go to our local pharmacy (the one we've been using since childhood) and we fill it.  Whatever it costs, we pay it.

 

Capitalism in the medical industry puts the consumer at a very large disadvantage.