How can the price of the life-saving EpiPen have gone up from $100 to $600? 'Cuz it's not illegal.
Mylan Pharmaceuticals bought the license for the EpiPen in 2007, and has increased the cost steadily by 600% over the past nine years. Most patients and doctors have heard of the EpiPen, and a lot of money has been spent on "branding" it, too.
The problem is that other automatic injectors for severe allergic reactions are not perfectly identical to the EpiPen. This makes sense, since to make one that is truly identical would constitute patent infringement. The problem is that in most states, pharmacists can't just automatically substitute a more affordable injector for an EpiPen prescription because the alternatives are not truly identical. In California, pharmacists can make such a substitution, though in my experience they often don't.
Long story short, the Adrenaclick epinephrine injector is an EpiPen-like device that has been around long enough to also be available generically.
Using my handy GoodRx iPhone app (you can also use the app for Android phones, or the website www.goodrx.com and a printer), I see that the best price locally is at WalMart with a discount for $144.62 for a pair of generic Adrenaclick auto-injectors.
So, if you have severe allergic reactions to things like bee stings, shellfish or peanuts, there is a generic alternative to the EpiPen that can be had for 2007 prices. Read the instructions carefully, as it is similar, but not identical, to the EpiPen.
No comments:
Post a Comment