Patients With High Deductible Plans Sometimes Face EpiPen Cost Issues

Consumer Reports: EpiPen Costs Add To High-Deductible Insurance Woes
When Isa Traverso, of Morrison, Col., went to fill her son's EpiPen prescription in early September 2016, the pharmacy said it would cost her $1,500 for a pair of the life-saving devices—despite having health insurance coverage. That's because her family's Blue Cross Blue Shield health plan requires that they meet a $5,200 deductible before insurance coverage kicks in, a figure they haven't reached yet for the year. That left Traverso on the hook for the full price—and she couldn't afford to fill the prescription. "I'm angry. This is not something you want to have. It's something you have to have," says Traverso. She says she'll consider not using her insurance and switching to the cheaper EpiPen alternative, generic Adrenaclick ($140 at Walmart using a GoodRx.com coupon). (Skinner, 9/12)

Stat: Food Allergy Group Says No To New Donations From EpiPen Manufacturer
A major food allergy advocacy group said this week that it would stop accepting donations immediately from drug companies selling epinephrine auto-injectors until there is “meaningful competition” in the market. While not mentioning Mylan by name, the statement from Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) implies that the EpiPen manufacturer is one of the targets. (Swetlitz and Silverman, 9/9)

FiercePharma: After Grassley Decries 'Incomplete Response,' Mylan Agrees To Pony Up EpiPen Docs
Congress is starting to get some answers on EpiPen pricing. And though, so far, Mylan’s not offering much beyond what’s readily available via Google search, that could change later this week. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which demanded answers earlier this month, is expecting documents late this week, sources close to the investigation said. The committee had set a deadline for initial word from the company Monday. (Staton, 9/13)

KPBS Public Media: Criticism Continues Over High-Priced EpiPen
Mylan, the company that makes the EpiPen, has been under fire for making the drug too expensive for many consumers. EpiPen is an auto-injector form of ephedrine that can stop a severe allergic reaction. It's only sold in pairs, retailing for about $600. But it's not the only prescription drug with an exorbitant price. (Goldberg, 9/12)

The Desert Sun: Woman Says She'll Go Without Her EpiPen Because Of Price
A bee sting while swimming one year ago prompted Donna Myrowto start carrying a life-saving EpiPen. When a pharmacy recently called to say her cost for a new pen had jumped $100, the Palm Springs retiree felt stung all over again...Myrow's pharmacy told her in August she would be responsible for roughly $300, or about half of the total price for her EpiPen renewal. Medicare and supplemental insurance would cover the rest. A year ago she paid $200. (Newkirk, 9/12)

Forbes: BIO's CEO On The Drug-Price Brouhaha And New Ads Touting Pharma Innovation
Anyone who has watched college football on TV or played the game Words with Friends on their phone in recent days may have seen the ad featuring Stephanie Haney, Bill Remak and Ryan Dant, all of whom were beneficiaries of biotechnology treatments. The ad, called “Innovation Saves,” suggests that money spent by biotech companies on research and development ultimately saves healthcare costs, because drugs lessen the need for hospital stays, reduce the number of surgeries performed and, in some cases, cure costly diseases. The group behind the ad is the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), which is running it as part of a larger campaign to counter all the negative publicity surrounding drug companies of late, much of which has been fueled by pricing controversies surrounding drugs like Mylan’s EpiPen and Turing Pharmaceuticals’ Daraprim. (Weintraub, 9/13)

Stat: Pharma Suffers A Setback In Battle Over Ohio Drug Pricing Ballot Measure
An Ohio court has given a significant boost to a controversial ballot measure that is designed to lower the cost of medicines. In a ruling last Friday, the state Supreme Court decided that thousands of contested signatures on petitions submitted to the General Assembly were valid. And the court also ordered the Secretary of State to permit consumer activists to submit yet another petition that is required for final approval by county officials so the measure can go before voters in November 2017. (Silverman, 9/12)

Business Insider: Scrutiny Of PBMs, Express Scripts Grows With Drug-Price Fury
It's easy to see why EpiPen has become the focus of America's fury over drug prices. It treats potentially deadly allergic reactions — for example, in a child who is stung by a bee — and its price has spiked by over 500% in a few years. While it's easy to jump all over drugmakers, like EpiPen's maker, Mylan, other actors in the healthcare system ought to draw as much scrutiny.One group of companies, called pharmaceutical-benefit managers, or PBMs, serve as middlemen, and they touch every part of the purchase of a prescription drug. (Lopez, 9/12)

FiercePharma: 'Extraordinary' Generics Price Hikes Hit Medicare Part D Amid Big Reduction Overall
Generic drug prices in Medicare Part D decreased significantly in recent years, a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says. So why the worry about price hikes? Hundreds of products saw “extraordinary price increases," that's why. For a group of 2,378 generic drugs--including those that entered or exited the market from 2010 to 2015--Medicare Part D prices fell overall by 59%. But “established generics"--the 1,441 drugs that stayed on the market the entire time--fell by just 22%. More than 300 cases of “extraordinary price increases” kept prices from falling further, the GAO said. (Sagonowsky, 9/13)

California Healthline: How Generics Lower Drug Prices
The popular furor over rising drug prices has led to increased scrutiny of the patent protections that can allow drugmakers to sell medicines exclusively for many years. A new study helps quantify just how much a generic competitor can drive down the price of a brand name drug. The price of brand name drugs falls steeply in the first year after the loss of exclusivity and continues to fall over the next three years, according to a study published by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics with numbers from IMS Health, a medical data wholesaler. (9/12)

Stat: Feds Probe Drug Maker For Prices Of Generic Dermatology Meds
Yet another drug maker is under scrutiny for its pricing. The US Department of Justice last Thursday sent grand jury subpoenas to Taro Pharmaceuticals and two of its senior commercial officers in its US unit seeking documents about generic pharmaceuticals and pricing, according to a filing that Taro made with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. (Silverman, 9/12)

Stat: Drug Maker Loses Appeal Of Antitrust Pay-To-Delay Case In Europe
European Commission court upheld an antitrust fine that was imposed three years ago against Lundbeck and four other drug makers for allegedly conspiring to delay the availability of a lower-cost generic version of an antidepressant. The ruling by the General Court of the European Union came in response to an appeal of a 2013 decision that found Lundbeck and the generic drug makers pursued a pay-to-delay deal that violated European Union anticompetition regulations. The European Commission had fined the companies a total of $165 million with Lundbeck ordered to pay the bulk of the fine, or about $105 million. (Silverman, 9/8)

CNBC: Government Involvement In Drug Pricing Is A Trojan Horse, Analyst Says
Drugmakers have been under scrutiny since Mylan's EpiPen price hike, but government involvement in controlling costs is not necessarily the answer, Wells Fargo Securities analyst David Maris said Thursday. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has said if elected, she would create an oversight panel to monitor price increases and impose penalties for unjustified hikes. "I don't think that having government run that process is really the right way, because it's a Trojan horse for price controls. Once they start controlling a little bit of price, then the temptation is to control all of price, and if you do that, you really get fewer drugs invented," he said. (Fox, 9/8)

Stat: FDA Slams Drug Maker For Touting Unapproved Leukemia Treatment To Docs
Last June, Celator Pharmaceuticals proudly displayed a large poster touting its experimental Vyxeos medication as an effective salve for treating acute myeloid leukemia. The poster was, in fact, one of countless placards featured prominently on the exhibit floor at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago, a sort of Woodstock for cancer doctors and eager investors. Despite the numerous displays, however, the Celator poster managed to stick out.That’s because Vyxeos has not yet been approved to treat AML. (Silverman, 9/7)