Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Debate On EpiPens: Health Care System At The Heart Of The Problem; Hollow Promises
The Wall Street Journal: The EpiPen Controversy Isn’t About Mylan
Soaring drug prices are again drawing the ire of the American public. The problem and any potential solution lies more in the U.S. health-care system rather than in the greed of any particular drug company or executive. (Charley Grant, 8/25)
Los Angeles Times: Mylan Will Help More Patients Pay For Its EpiPen. Here's Why That's Bad News For Healthcare
Mylan, the profiteering, tax-dodging drug company currently taking immense heat for jacking up the price of its Epipen by 500%, announced Thursday that it will help more patients cover their soaring out-of-pocket costs for the allergy drug device. That’s good for some individual patients and families. But at heart it’s a cynical move that actually protects the company’s profits and harms the healthcare system. As I explained last year, that's because such moves are often marketing schemes dressed up to look like altruism. (Michael Hiltzik, 8/25)
Los Angeles Times: Drug Companies Spend Millions To Keep Charging High Prices
Pharmaceutical heavyweight Mylan, the latest poster child for drug-industry greed, finally stuck up for itself Thursday. It argued that “the system,” not avarice, was to blame for the company jacking up the price of EpiPens, a common (and life-saving) allergy remedy, by over 400%. “Look, no one’s more frustrated than me,” Mylan Chief Executive Heather Bresch declared on CNBC. Actually, millions of people — those with chronic medical conditions or other illnesses — are more frustrated than her. (David Lazarus, 8/26)
Los Angeles Times: EpiPen Price Gouging Demonstrates Need For More Competition In Generic Drugs
In the latest in a recent series of controversies over prescription drug prices, Mylan Pharmaceuticals has come under well-deserved fire for jacking up the price of a package of EpiPens — devices that deliver an emergency shot of epinephrine to someone suffering a potentially fatal allergic reaction — 550% since acquiring the right to sell the devices in 2007, from $94 to $608. That may seem modest in comparison to the more than 5,000% increase that Turing Pharmaceuticals quickly imposed on Daraprim, an anti-malarial drug also used by HIV patients, or the more than 3,000% increase that Valeant has extracted for Syprine, a blood-cleaning agent. But given the life-saving nature of EpiPens, their widespread use and Mylan’s effective monopoly, the company’s profiteering is outrageous. (8/26)
The Washington Post: EpiPens Save Lives. If They Cost Too Much, Kids Will Die.
But in 2007, Mylan pharmaceutical company won a near-monopoly on the device. The company used its new power to raise the price of EpiPens by more than 400 percent in recent years. Because it could. Now many families will have to make huge sacrifices to scrounge up more than $500 every year. (They expire.) And some children will have to go back to school without this medication because their families can’t afford it. That is unconscionable. (Chirlane McCray, 8/25)
Chicago Tribune: Beware The Company You Keep: EpiPens And Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli
On Thursday, Mylan said it would boost programs that help patients pay for the EpiPen but would not reduce the price. Stay tuned for Capitol Hill hearings and investigations. Mylan, welcome to Shkreli-Land. Among the defenders of Mylan's pricing is ... you guessed it: Martin Shkreli. We don't begrudge Mylan its profits. And no, we can't say if the price of the EpiPens is too high. That's for the market to decide. What we do know is that when Shkreli spiked the price of his company's drug, Daraprim, competitors emerged to offer similar drugs at lower prices. The same could happen here. That's the way the market works. (8/25)
The Hill: My Life With EpiPens
EpiPens offer a lifeline for those of us with life-threatening allergies, making the debate on their soaring price all the more pivotal. EpiPen is the brand name for Mylan’s epinephrine auto-injector, a shot that delivers the exact amount of adrenaline my body needs after an allergy attack. That medicine, stored in what looks like an oversized yellow pen, opens my throat up and gives me time to get to a hospital for further treatment. (Ben Kamisar, 8/25)
