Mylan boosts EpiPen programs amid criticism

Mylan is bulking up programs that help patients pay for its EpiPen emergency allergy treatment after weathering heated criticism about an average cost that has soared over the past decade. But the drugmaker didn’t budge on its price hikes Thursday, which have drawn ire both in Congress and from families that must shell out increasingly large sums for the potentially life-saving treatment. That means the insurers and employers that pay the bulk of the EpiPen cost for many patients will continue to do so, contributing to higher health insurance costs. The average price of a two-dose EpiPen package climbed to about $608 earlier this year, up more than 500 percent from around $94 nine years ago, according to the Elsevier Clinical Solutions’ Gold Standard Drug Database.