The price of the EpiPen has been rising, causing concern for those who have severe allergies.
A steep increase in the price of the EpiPen, a lifesaving injection device for people with severe allergies, has caused outrage among consumers and lawmakers who worry that parents will not be able to afford the pens for children heading back to school.
With a quick stab to the thigh, the EpiPen dispenses epinephrine, a drug that reverses swelling, closing of the airways and other symptoms of a severe reaction to bee stings, peanuts or other allergens.
Mylan, the pharmaceutical company, acquired the decades-old product in 2007, when pharmacies paid less than $100 for a two-pen set, and has since been steadily raising the wholesale price. In 2009, a pharmacy paid $103.50 for a set. By July 2013 the price was up to $264.50, and it rose 75 percent to $461 by last May. This May the price spiked again to $608.61, according to data provided by the Elsevier Clinical Solutions’ Gold Standard Drug Database.
Doctors advise allergic patients to carry two EpiPens with them at all times in case an extra dose is needed to quell a severe reaction. Most parents buy multiple EpiPens for home, in the car and school and may replace them annually, depending on the expiration date, which is typically 12 to 18 months after purchase.
Mylan has declined to comment on the price increase, issuing a statement pointing to high-deductible health plans that require consumers to pay much more out of pocket for many drugs. The company said a $100 coupon it offered for the product meant that most people do not pay anything for the pens.
But how the price increase affects consumers varies widely, depending on the prices charged by their local pharmacies and the details of their insurance plans. People without insurance or with high-deductible insurance plans cannot always use the coupon and are paying about $640 a set, said Michael Rea, the chief executive of Rx Savings Solutions in Overland Park, Kansas. Other patients say that even with good insurance, their copayments are as much as four times higher than in the past.
The price increase has caught the attention of Washington lawmakers.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, DMinn., who has a daughter who carries an EpiPen, has called on the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Federal Trade Commission to review whether the price increase violate any anti-competition rules.
Last year, the drugmaker Sanofi recalled a competing product, Auvi-Q, because it might not have been delivering the correct amount of epinephrine, leaving the EpiPen as the primary emergency treatment for severe allergic reactions.