Mylan 's Generic Epipen Vs. Other Generic Auto Injectors

As a critical care nurse the concern with medication shortages really hits home. In my current practice I have been asked by our hospital pharmacy to decrease the amount of Ativan given to a patient because the supply was low and they did not have any more to restock our omnicell. I am unsure the reason behind this particular shortage, but several other drugs we currently use are in low supply, most importantly epinephrine. Epinephrine is a life-saving medication, not only for supply on our code carts for cardiac arrest, but available in injection form for people with severe allergies. The shortage affects everyone, from oncology patients to cardiac patients. Recent policy changes have been made in order to correct the major shortages to help keep these life-saving drugs on the market and available to the people that need them.

In period five, we introduced the line extension Allright; a 12-Hr muli-symptom relief capsule. We decided this extension would be successful, as the allergy market is very small and had an entrenched competitor. Therefore, while we were aware of potential cannibalization, we believed that the targeted market (retirees, empty nesters, and young singles) would have sufficient demand for our product. We also reasoned that this target was far enough removed from Allround’s to gain additional market share without taking any from Allround. However, this was not the case, as cannibalization was a pressing issue. Market share was gained at the expense of Allround.

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

During this time the first DTC print advertisement for Merck an “antipneumococcal vaccine, Pneumovax(pneumococcal vaccine polyvalent) was printed in Reader’s Digest (Ventola).” That created a chain effect and shortly later “Boots Pharmaceuticals ran the first DTC broadcast advertisement, which promoted the lower price of its prescription brand of ibuprofen (Rufen), compared with Motrin (Ventola).” Today, the US pharmaceutical industry spends $3.1 billion on advertising prescription drugs directly to consumers.

In 2015, the pharmaceutical industry spent over 27 billion dollars on advertising. The two greatest components of this effort were promotional advertising and free medication sampling, which the pharmaceuticals invested 15.5 and 5.7 billion dollars respectively (“Persuading the Prescribers”). Promotional advertising involves direct contact with health professionals, the most common being extravagant lunch conferences held for physicians and their staff. On the other hand, sampling involves distributing free sample of medications to physicians, who then have a choice of providing these samples to patients. As a result of these methods, the industry has seen revenue around $400 billion with 90% of physicians having a relationship with a drug company (Campbell 2007). Moreover, the prices of prescriptions continue to rise; a copay of a generic drug is $11.72, preferred brand drug is $36.37 and a specialty drug is $58.37 (Coleman and Geneson 2014). Although the profits are immense in the numbers demonstrated above, it is no surprise when pharmaceutical drug companies elevate their prices even more. For instance, recently Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the price of their medication Daraprim from $13.50 to $750. Keep in mind, this medication is used for threatening parasitic infections, aids, and cancer with alternative options currently found to be inefficient (Pollack 2015). Another example of this practice involves cycloserine, a drug used to

Initially, from 2000 to 2001 the amount of money that was spent on prescription drugs had risen by nearly 20 percent as the cost of medication also rose. Lawmakers looked at different strategies such as including the drugs in medicare or having them be sold over the counter as insurers and consumers struggled to pay (Steinhauer). This substantial increase in drug cost did not go unnoticed. As the rising costs of drugs were passed onto insurers, they looked for solutions. One large California health insurer, Wellpoint Health Networks, saw a solution in having more drugs sold without prescriptions. The California insurer argued that top allergy drugs should be made more widely available and cheaper, and selling Claritin, Allegra, and Zyrtec, three top allergy drugs, over the counter would accomplish both of those things (Petersen “A Push to Sell”). Manufacturers argued against them, saying that such a move would be dangerous to the consumer, forcing them to diagnose themselves rather than have a professional do it for them. Some news in pharmaceuticals, however, had to do with criminal activities. The United States Food and Drug Administration investigated multiple cases of counterfeit drugs. In each of the three cases, the drugs were extremely expensive, one used by AIDS patients, another a growth hormone for people who cannot produce enough

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.

The EpiPen device automatically injects a drug called epinephrine, which reverses potentially deadly allergic reactions. It is the only device of its kind available in the United States. Millions depend on carrying the device at all times. For decades the EpiPen was available at a low cost until the Mylan Company purchased it in 2007. Since then, the price has risen over 400% creating a public backlash of media reports, social media petitions, and politician’s calling out Mylan executives to explain the reason for the price raise. Lack of compassion and appearance of greed has tarnished the public image of the company. Mylan has begun looking for ways of rebuilding their image by releasing compensation to the public in the form of generic cheaper EpiPens and payment assistance to eligible patients, but it might be too little too late in this current ongoing communication crisis event.

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

Thank you for your thoughts Danh. I am aware that Hy-Vee and Wal-Mart pharmacies offer a $4 generic list, but as a Hy-Vee pharmacy intern, I know that the list is limited. The patient does not benefit from such a promotion if their drug is not on the list. Hence, this common scenario is in conflict with the ethical principle of distributive justice. Additionally, I believe that pharmacists can only do so much in a given situation and the system for access to medications is disappointingly inadequate. Thus, I proposed the development of a centralized electronic system dedicated to maximizing access to medications for every patient.

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.

The market for acetaminophen was growing at a rate of 5:1 to that of aspirin. Studies had shown that the side-effects from acetaminophen were less than aspirin. Bristol-Myers could have used the change in consumer consumption pattern and the shifting demand between the 2 analgesic variants as a means for positioning Datril using an effective campaign strategy.

Step 3 states a seller cannot exploit a buyers essential needs. Mylan produces the EpiPen, which almost every patient that buys a EpiPen is doing it for a life or death situation. Therefore, Mylan has violated the needs of many in terms of affordability. There are many patients that will never use the EpiPen because it is for emergencies only. Step 4 mentions that the price must be justified by the cost.

This year Mylan faced a lot of criticism from the consumers, the press and the government. Everybody was outraged with the increase of price of the 2pack-EpiPen to $608.00. Of the $608.00 Mylan receives $274.00

Generic biologics (otherwise referred to as biosimilars or follow-on biologics), are described by the FDA as biological products that are highly similar to already approved biological products, notwithstanding minor differences in clinically interactive components and for which there are no clinically meaningful differences between the biosimilar and the approved biological products in terms of safety, purity and potency [4].