Opinions Continue To Swirl Around EpiPen Controversy
Editorial pages across the country continue to offer perspectives on aspects of the EpiPen pricing news.
Bloomberg:
The EpiPen Drama Shows What’s Wrong With How Drugs Are Priced
The EpiPen pricing controversy is enough to trigger mental anaphylactic shock. First, Mylan raised the list price of EpiPens to more than $600 a pair. When protests predictably erupted, Chief Executive Officer Heather Bresch went on TV to say that if she cut the price of EpiPens, some people wouldn’t be able to get them anymore. Which is weird, because usually a lower price makes things easier to get. Then, on Aug. 29, Mylan announced it will sell a generic version of EpiPens at half the price—but keep selling the identical brand-name version at full price. ... None of this, including the original price hike, makes sense if you think of brand-name pharmaceuticals as normal products whose prices are set by the forces of supply and demand. (Peter Coy, 9/1)
Modern Healthcare:
Mylan's Sudden Plans For A Generic EpiPen
Mylan made a somewhat surprising announcement Monday that it would launch a generic version of its EpiPen and sell it for half the list price of its branded product. The company said it would launch the generic version in several weeks, pending label revisions. So, if the company can launch a generic product in a matter of weeks, where have these generic plans been all along? (Adam Rubenfire, 8/31)
The Hill:
EpiPen Debate And Out-Of-Control Drug Prices
It’s official. Mylan has gone too far. When the drug company raised the price of the EpiPen by 400 percent and boosted the CEO’s salary to $18 million, it definitely went beyond what the public will accept. In less than 10 years, the price for a two-pack of EpiPen Auto Injectors for life-threatening allergy relief has risen from approximately $100 to over $600. Some analysts have estimated that the tiny amount of epinephrine in an EpiPen is worth barely $1, and the auto injectors might cost as little as $5. (Twila Brase, 8/31)
Louisville Courier-Journal:
EpiPen 'A Microcosm Of Broader Failures'
Epinephrine is a naturally-occurring substance, made by the adrenal gland. It was discovered more than 100 years ago. It is readily available in glass ampules for less than five bucks. By coupling with a syringe and a needle, which cost pennies, one can make a cheap EpiPen. Mylan sells its product for more than $600. So what happened? The EpiPen story is the story of crony capitalism, government meddling in medical care, and the lack of price discovery and competition in the medical markets. It is a microcosm of the broader failures of Obamacare. (Dr. Cameron S. Schaeffer, 8/29)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
EpiPen Price Scandal Reveals Larger Problem Of Runaway Drug Prices
It’s bizarre that Mylan NV, the same company that owns EpiPen, would commission an identical generic version of the same product and sell it for half the price. After all, Anheuser-Busch InBev wouldn’t make half-price generic Budweiser at its Pestalozzi Street plant. But the pharmaceutical business plays by different rules. It ruthlessly eliminates competition. It often collaborates with insurance companies and pharmacy benefits managers, the entities that are supposed to restrain it. It has co-opted much of the scientific research community and Congress. (8/31)
The Charlotte Observer:
Big Pharma Just Poked The Wrong Group: Moms
Big pharmaceutical companies may have finally crossed the line this time. The outrageous increase in the cost of the EpiPen – 32 percent this year alone – is certain to enrage and engage the country’s Number One voting bloc: moms. When Turing Pharmaceuticals increased the price of Daraprim, a drug used to treat an infection in HIV patients, from $13.50 to $750, there was outrage in the press followed by hearings in Congress. Although Turing promised to reduce the price of the drug, the company still hasn’t. And there is nothing – aside from public relations pressure – that can force Turing to keep its promise. (Dr. John M Scherr, 8/31)
The Hill:
Protecting Generic Pharma Competition Is Necessary Now
American brand and specialty drug prices are among the highest anywhere despite the fact that the U.S. pharmaceutical market is the largest in the world. Some of that problem may stem from public healthcare program fraud and an inefficient medical insurance system, but much more is the result of a long pattern of anticompetitive tactics in this highly concentrated industry. (Glenn B. Manishin, 8/31)
