EpiPen’s Price Hikes Draw Intense Scrutiny, Raise Ire Among Lawmakers
News outlets report on how the emergency allergy medicine's maker came to raise the treatment's price tag by so much and how this move fits into the broader story of U.S. drug pricing policy.
USA Today:
EpiPen's Steady Price Increases Masked Until Deductibles Rose
The prices insurers and employers negotiate with Mylan are up about 150% since 2009, according to Rx Savings Solutions, which represents businesses and insurance companies. The average wholesale price has increased nearly 500% in that time, says Michael Rea, a pharmacist and CEO of Rx Savings Solutions. As outrageous as the EpiPen increases seem, Rea says they aren't that unusual and are getting attention now because parents are stocking up before back to school and are increasingly facing higher out-of-pocket costs due to higher deductibles and cost sharing. (O'Donnell, Singer and Rudavsky, 8/23)
The Associated Press:
How EpiPen's Maker Raised Prices, And Hackles, So Much
Sky-high price hikes for EpiPen, the injected emergency medicine for severe allergic reactions to foods and bug bites, have made its maker the latest target for patients and politicians infuriated by soaring drug prices. The company, Mylan, has a virtual monopoly on epinephrine injectors, potentially life-saving devices used to stop a runaway allergic reaction. Mylan N.V., which has headquarters in Hertfordshire, England, and Pittsburgh, has hiked prices as frequently as three times a year over the past nine years, pushing its list price for a package of two syringes to more than $600. (Johnson, 8/23)
NBC News:
As EpiPen's Price Soared 400 Percent, Executive Pay Soared 600 Percent
EpiPens are used in emergencies to treat people — often children — who experience potentially deadly allergic reactions. The manufacturer is now facing increasing criticism for the staggering rise in the EpiPen's price. (Holt, 8/23)
Vox:
EpiPen’s 400 Percent Price Hike Tells Us A Lot About What’s Wrong With American Health Care
The story of Mylan’s giant EpiPen price increase is, more fundamentally, a story about America's unique drug pricing policies. We are the only developed nation that lets drugmakers set their own prices, maximizing profits the same way sellers of chairs, mugs, shoes, or any other manufactured goods would. In Europe, Canada, and Australia, governments view the market for cures as essentially uncompetitive and set the price as part of a bureaucratic process, similar to how electricity or water are priced in regulated US utility markets. (Kliff, 8/23)