It also said patients would be able to use a savings card to cover up to $300 of cost of the two-pack of EpiPens. So insurance companies, federal health programs like Medicare and Medicaid and school districts that stock the products could still pay the same price.
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But things might have taken an ethically problematic turn, given that the CEO of the pharmaceutical company responsible for the almost 500 percent price increase since 2007, Mylan, has some serious political connections.
Bresch said Thursday that Mylan gets $274 for a two-dose EpiPen package.
Even with insurance coverage, Kornrumph said she couldn’t afford the potentially life-saving drug.
The White House took a more cautious tone in criticizing rising drug costs, refusing to comment on the decisions of an individual company.
“We have been a long-term, committed partner to the allergy community and are taking immediate action to help ensure that everyone who needs an EpiPen Auto-Injector gets one”, Heather Bresch, Mylan’s chief executive, said in a statement. Patients who were previously paying the full price for the EpiPen will have their out-of-pocket cost cut by 50 percent.
“I was dumbfounded and of course it’s a very serious issue”, said Dina Clifford.
For the roughly 40 million Americans who suffer from severe allergies that could lead to anaphylactic shock, having a pair of EpiPens on hand could mean the difference between life and death.
“I have to buy these for 12 years for two children”, said Clifford.
Parker, whose son has a severe nut allergy, condemned them in a strongly-worded letter shared to her Instagram.
When she went to the Kaiser Permanente Pharmacy, she was told the copay savings card wasn’t accepted.
“I’ll never forget being on the phone with the 911 operator and saying, ‘My baby’s lips are blue, ‘” mother Krista Palumbo said. “The current drug pricing market is broken and we believe it’s time for a new model that rewards innovation and value”.
The price hike has drawn outrage from users with high insurance deductibles or no insurance at all.
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Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and members of Congress from both parties have quickly ramped up criticism of the price Mylan charges for the medicine. Unlike other countries, the US doesn’t regulate medicine prices, so drugmakers can charge as much as they want.
