People will eventually be able to order the injected medicine directly from the company, to lower their cost. Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican, and Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Democrat, said the company appeared to be putting its ledger sheets over patients’ health, after the price of its auto-injector went up by more than 400 percent over the past half-decade.
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Klobuchar was joined at a news conference at Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis on Monday by pediatricians who denounced the price increases as unconscionable.
He said there should be more competition and someone should have a better “mousetrap”.
Meanwhile, actress Sarah Jessica Parker, whose son has severe nut allergies, wrote on Instagram that she’s cut ties with Mylan and is “disappointed, saddened and deeply concerned” over EpiPen’s price.
Heather Bresch, chief executive officer of Mylan NV, speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview in NY, U.S., on Thursday.
Mylan bought the right to the EpiPen in 2007, and since then has raised the price of its auto-injectors by more than 400 percent, to almost $500 out-of-pocket for some American families, according to Forbes.
“These don’t actually do anything about the price itself, because the high price is still being paid by the insurer, which then ends up being reflected in increasing premiums”, Harvard Medical School professor Aaron Kesselheim said in a Washington Post report.
Whether Mylan’s actions will quell critics remains to be seen.
Clinton said Wednesday that pharmaceutical and biotech industries can fuel American innovation, and combat debilitating diseases.
If lawmakers follow the usual script, Bresch could get called up to Capitol Hill next month to explain her company’s justification for raising the price on the lifesaving allergy shot. Wednesday, the drug price watchdogs at the Senate Special Committee on Aging demanded an “urgent briefing” from Mylan CEO Heather Bresch. All involved must also take steps to help meaningfully address the USA health care crisis, and we are committed to do our part to drive change in collaboration with policymakers, payors, patients and health care professionals. The company will also double the income level at which families are eligible to receive assistance in purchasing the device; now, a family of four with an annual income up to $97,200 will pay nothing.
Last year, more than 3.6 million US prescriptions for two-packs of EpiPens were filled, according to data firm IMS Health.
EpiPens are used in emergencies to treat severe allergies that can lead to anaphylactic (an-uh-fih-LAK’-tik) shock. On August 19, Mylan stocks went from $49.20 per share to $43.11 on August 24, a net loss of almost $3 billion for the company.
Lawmakers are already asking the company about taxpayers having to foot the bill for the price increases – particularly after Bresch and the company successfully pushed legislation to encourage use of the EpiPen in schools nationwide. He noted that price has stayed relatively stable the past couple years.
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“This step seems like a PR fix more than a real remedy, masking an exorbitant and callous price hike”, the senator said in a statement.
