Epipen Case

The current debate over the Mylan Company’s near monopoly of the epinephrine market through its EpiPen shows what can happen without monopoly regulation. While the cost to produce an Epipen is around $30, the price to the consumer is around $300 each. The economic implications for a family that needs to keep the device on hand to save a life can be excessively high, the emotional results of not having one when you need one are debilitating. This monopoly is further enhanced by state-enforced regulations requiring that schools keep EpiPens in stock and the, so-called, EpiPen law enacted in 2013, which leave little incentive for other pharmaceutical companies to develop their own technology for fast-acting emergency devices. (Bartolone, 2016) Breaking Mylan’s monopoly will not only lead to new product development but lower prices for consumers for a life-saving delivery

In 2016, the health care industry saw prices rise. Many drugs continue to go up in price and even generic brands were up nine percent in 2014. This is largely due to inflation and companies trying to figure out where to price their drugs. Many companies have also merged with other health care companies which have also caused this increase.

How many of you have taken a tylenol pill. What if you died days after taking them, what about hours, minutes, seconds. This is what happened in Chicago 1982 after someone got tylenol pills and poisoned them with 100 to 10000 times the fatal dose. Seven people were killed and more poisoned bottles were found after this. One family and other individuals were found dead because of this. In total it ended up being seven dead. No one was ever convicted for the murders, but three people were suspects in the investigation.

In the article “Mylan Faces Scrutiny Over Epipen Increases,” by Jonathan D. Rockoff, the product of EpiPen is discussed, along with Mylan’s incentive to increase price, and the public and governmental backlash to this price increase. EpiPen is a lifesaving, emergency, allergy treatment that keeps those who have extreme allergic reactions from going into severe shock. It is used by millions of people, including many schoolchildren. A pack of two costs $608.61, which is up 548% since 2007, as the product has had 17 price increases over the years, according to Truven Health Analytics. Over 3.6 million prescriptions for the product were written last year, according to IMS Health.

Recently, there had been a controversy over the rise in pharmaceutical costs involving the EpiPen in the United States. The EpiPen, also known as adrenaline/epinephrine, is a widely used injection that is used to treat allergic reactions. This generic drug has been available for many years. The EpiPen controversy is a prime example of how monopoly

This is obviously a huge topic in bioethics debates, especially recently after various changes in Federal Healthcare protocols. Some people depend on pharmaceuticals as a daily part of their routine, requiring some medicine or other for a condition or health issue. A prime example of this is the recent hike in the price of epinephrine shots, commonly known as the Epipen produced by Mylan Pharmaceuticals. This medication has seen a huge increase in pricing rising from roughly $50 in 2007 to over $600 this year. This is a shot used for common allergic reactions and therefore is used or carried by millions of people every day. The concern then is that pricing will get too high and patients will have to do without some medications leaving them vulnerable or even helpless in the face of certain conditions.

An epi-pen is typically used when a person has an allergic reaction to a substance or material. An Epi-Pen contains a drug known as epinephrine. Epinephrine is a synthetic version of adrenaline. Allergies stresses the body, consecutively, impeding the person to breath. With adrenaline from the epinephrine the body will have a burst of energy helping the body to process everything rapidly and making the person able to breathe again. In the text “How 12 EpiPens Saves My Life” the author Ali Jafee establishes common ground, uses real life occurrence to establish credibility and appeals to the audience emotions through her ongoing encounters with the Epi-pen for the purpose of delivering a message of how essential epinephrine is for those who have allergies.

Mylan is the pharmaceutical company who owns and produces the lifesaving drug called EpiPen. EpiPen is an auto-injector that releases epinephrine into the system by penetrating through the thigh to control a severe allergic reaction. Many families look to this medication to save their child’s life in the event of an emergency. With all the lifesaving benefits this company offers, Mylan however, have been receiving a lot of criticism regarding the astounding price for the pen. According to David Dyan with The Fiscal Times, EpiPens were once sold for $57 per pen in 2007, today a single pen costs over $300. Mylan has imposed at 600% price increase on the lifesaving drug in the course of almost a decade without a viable explanation. To make matters

So, this suggests that the letter from the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program somehow no longer applies. Why would that be? It turns out that in 2005, a couple of years before Mylan bought the division of Merck that markets EpiPen, the company that actually manufactures the EpiPen came up with a new and better design for the injector. They were granted a new patent in Dec of

We have received your medication request. The Aspirin was ordered and is available for pick up in the clinic pharmacy. Also, the Linagliptin was ordered however please allow 5 business days to be notified by the pharmacy for when this med is ready for pick. As per our decision via phone you have three active refills on your testing strips.

Four years after the Tylenol murders in which the killer was never found, Stella Nickell is accused and arrested for putting cyanide in Excedrin. She grew up poor and at 16 years old, gave birth to her daughter Cindy. At 22, she met a mechanic named Bruce Nickell. They were together for 12 till a day in 1986 when Bruce came home with a headache and took four extra-strength Excedrin, and collapsed. Doctors thought it was emphysema, but Stella refused to believe that. Upon hearing that Susan (Sue) Snow died from ingesting Excedrin that was laced with cyanide, she took down the lot number and confirmed that it matched the bottle she had. Pain relievers were swept off the shelves and thoroughly examined and 5 bottles of Excedrin

Thank you for your feedback, it would be great but as Dr. Brenner have mentioned “If Camden can do it than other places will feel silly”. Just like the case with EpiPen I feel as though health care will do what is in their best interest which is to make money. Thankfully there is a generic version of EpiPen that is half the cost but still many unable to afford it. Hopefully in the near future there will be a law when no medication is out of reach, it is there to serve purpose and not make it harder to get.

Health care costs for the average family are going up, the rising costs are rising faster than wages and inflation. Most of the uninsured are Americans who are working, but can’t afford health insurance. Most people that have insurance, can get insurance because their employers cover it. 60% of people get health insurance through employers. 9% of people actually purchase their own policies. The remaining have insurance through government. The basic principles of the economy are such as; supply and demand, and intellectual property rights. The economy has many effects on drug prices; scarcity, cost of research, cost of production, value of the commodity, cost to take a drug to market, and prices based on benefits to patients. There are many

Peanut allergies is one of the most common and lethal allergies responsible for anaphylaxis and can be countered immediately with the administration of an epinephrine. Last fall, as kids were preparing to return to school for a new academic year, the maker of EpiPen, the brand name epinephrine, was busy working on increasing the price of its product. EpiPen is the drug of choice used for the treatment of various emergency medical condition including type 1 allergic reactions like anaphylaxis that result from allergic reactions.

Epinephrine, the medicine contained within an EpiPen, is sold very cheaply. The Epipen, however, has faced a series of price increases, resulting in its manufacturer, Mylan Pharmaceuticals, facing extreme criticism. According to Carrier (2016), “Between 2009 and 2016, Mylan raised the price of this life-saving device, which delivers epinephrine to treat anaphylaxis shock, 15 times, resulting in an increase of more than 400%” (p.1). The uproar is widespread, with several powerful voices chiming in, such as that of democratic presidential