Posts Tagged: "EpiPen"

The EpiPen Episode’s Silver Lining

EpiPen’s eruptive timing was important. Had Congress been in town, lawmakers would have filled the front pages with populist blather. Had Mylan been less forthcoming about the retail drug supply chain, the press would have been less likely to look into its composition. Had Mylan’s CEO not been a sitting Senator’s daughter, gossipy Hill reporters would have been bored. If health insurer withdrawals from ACA exchanges had not led to higher consumer costs and rates to match, and most important, if anaphylaxis did not simultaneously threaten the lives so many children and bust the back-to-school budgets of more than 15 million middle American families, the multi component drug pricing issues might have been buried on news papers’ back pages. EpiPen pulled these issues out of hiding into the light of public concern where oversimplified self-serving solutions tend to wilt. The fact is we have been treated to a highly publicized health pricing tutorial using a live case study to learn about the many drivers of retail drug pricing.

Government is to blame for the skyrocketing price of EpiPens, not patents

The problem is that the government is standing in the way of these competitive autoinjectors getting into the hands of the patients who need them. For example, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has a competitive autoinjector. However, in March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rejected Teva’s application to bring its competitive autoinjector to patients… While Mylan, like most large pharmaceutical manufacturers, has spent millions of dollars on lobbyists and political campaign contributions, there is no evidence of any illegal quid pro quo. Mylan is simply acting in the interests of its shareholders. It is the system itself, not Mylan, that is corrupt.

EpiPen gives doses of life-saving epinephrine for nearly 50 years

The EpiPen continues to be a highly sought consumer medical device. Last September, Bloomberg reported that EpiPen sales had eclipsed $1 billion per year, proving to be a true cash cow for current owner Mylan (NASDAQ:MYL). This year, the National Inventors Hall of Fame inducted one of the masterminds behind the first line of defense most people have against serious complications from allergies: the EpiPen. This June 28th marks the 49th anniversary of the date of issue of the patent for which Sheldon Kaplan has been inducted into the Hall of Fame.