Hillary Clinton on Wednesday called the skyrocketing price of the EpiPen “the latest troubling example of a company taking advantage of its consumers”, sending drugmakers’ stocks tumbling in the afternoon.
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The drug used to cost $100 five to seven years ago, but it has now jumped to $600.
“I’m obviously not going to make specific comments to specifically second guess the pricing strategy … of one private enterprise”, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said at a news briefing Wednesday.
The 400 per cent spike in the price of live-saving EpiPen devices for those with severe allergies in the US has sparked outrage among American doctors and politicians.
Bresch, Mylan’s CEO, is the daughter of Sen.
“Last year, we spent around $650 for a twinpack and this year, same thing”, she said. Just nine years later, the cost has skyrocketed to as much as $700 for a pack of two, and the company has stopped selling single units.
During the second quarter, Mylan averaged a 40% discount on the EpiPen, selling one pen for about $173, according to an analysis by SSR Health LLC.
Recent changes in health insurance have resulted in higher deductible costs for many families, the company said. It pointed out its savings programs for patients and free EpiPens for schools, with around half of US schools participating. The American Medical Association – the nation’s largest physician organization – made a similar plea, with AMA president Andrew Gurman calling the price hikes “exorbitant” in a statement. But among a broader audience, few people know who she is.
“Not only have I seen it save lives, but I’ve seen the opposite happen, of when an EpiPen wasn’t available and both children and adults passed away”. Warner said in a letter this week that the issue is personal for him.
“Due to Mylan’s virtual monopoly of the epinephrine auto-injector market and its unique life-saving attribute, it is crucial that your product remains affordable for all Americans”, Blumenthal wrote.
Members of Congress have also expressed concern about the price hike, and some have called for hearings on Capitol Hill to force Mylan executives to explain themselves. Yet the company has been increasing prices for many of its products, according to Wells Fargo Securities, which counted price hikes on 39 drugs through June.
In recent days, lawmakers, including Virginia’s Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat who helped forge a compromise on a bill that would expand Federal Bureau of Investigation background checks of gun buyers.
Price increases have helped transform the EpiPen into a billion-dollar business despite it being a decades-old product.
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The company is also doubling eligibility for its patient assistance program. The Minnesota Democrat says there’s no way that drug-maker Mylan Pharmaceuticals can justify such steep increases. In March, she released a campaign ad vowing to target the company.She has also sharply criticized Turing Pharmaceuticals for raising the price of an antiviral medication commonly used by AIDS patients and pregnant women, to $750 from $13.50 a tablet.
