Mylan introduced an offer of discount coupons for some EpiPen users on Thursday, but refused to reduce the price. She said the remaining $334 goes through a number of middle men who get their cut.
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Mylan executives have vowed to make the drug more affordable for patients in need, but the pledge was not enough for Parker, and on Thursday (25Aug16), the concerned mum took to Instagram to attack the company. Many other drugmakers also routinely raise prices of their prescription drugs by 10 percent or more each year, and USA legislation is needed to prevent such “price spikes”, he added.
But the price of that drug, in the form of an EpiPen – a device designed for immediate injection into a person’s body – recently skyrocketed, and has been the focus of controversy this week.
Mylan does not have any real competitor in the epinephrine auto injector market, and therefore has a monopoly on the life-saving product.
Before Bresch appeared on CNBC, the company announced it is reducing the cost of EpiPens through the use of a savings card that will cover up to $300 for the EpiPen 2-Pak. The company also said it would double the eligibility for its patient assistance program, eliminating out-of-pocket costs for patients who are uninsured and underinsured. “Everybody should be frustrated”. When Mylan started selling the EpiPen in 2007, it cost $57.
“What else do you shop for that when you walk up to the counter, you have no idea what it’s going to cost you?” she said.
“The announcement today doesn’t appear to change the product price”, Sen.
Rea is not surprised by the price Mylan is charging and doesn’t think a savings card is the solution. “Nobody is buying this PR move any more”. No other company has come up with anything as effective as the company’s patented injection device. A complex and opaque system may encourage high prices for drugs, but also doesn’t force the likes of Mylan to jack them up.
Mylan CEO Heather Bresch is the newest pharmaceutical exec to face similar criticism after she struggled to justify hiking the price of the EpiPen by more than 400 percent in the past decade.
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“It doesn’t help us at all on any of those”, said Connell.
