Thursday the company responded to the firestorm by announcing they would be reducing the price of EpiPens through a savings card that covers up to $300 of an EpiPen 2-pak, which cuts the out of pocket cost in half.
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Under mounting pressure, pharmaceutical company Mylan says it will slash the costs of emergency EpiPens for some patients in the US.
It also said it would increase the number of patients eligible for its assistance program, which provides the product free to patients who have incomes below a certain level and lack insurance coverage for drugs.
Mylan said it would also allow patients to order EpiPens directly from the company, reducing their cost. Joe Manchin remained mum Wednesday as a pharmaceutical company run by his daughter faced mounting criticism for hiking prices on life-saving allergy injection pens.
Mylan had raised a standard two-pack of EpiPens to $600 over the past several years.
“Here’s the perverse thing: Had we reduced the list price, I couldn’t ensure that everyone who needs an EpiPen gets one, so we went around the system”, said Bresch.
“This step seems like a PR fix more than a real remedy, masking an exorbitant and callous price hike”, Sen. “[EpiPens] reach their expiration date in one year so then you have to buy more”.
EpiPens have been around for almost 40 years and are used by people who can have a severe allergic reaction.
Politicians apparently weren’t alarmed as Mylan repeatedly hiked the price of the device, which delivers an emergency antidote to counteract life-threatening allergic reactions. However, as the health insurance environment has evolved, driven by the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, patients and families enrolled in high deductible health insurance plans, who are uninsured, or who pay cash at the pharmacy, have faced higher costs for their medicine.
“Mylan should not offer after-the-fact discounts only for a select few – it should reverse its massive price increases across the board immediately”, Cumming said in a statement.
Paulsen requested that Bresch address concerns raised by his constituents about the price increases and that she makes resources and assistance available to those who can not afford the live-saving devices.
The Democratic West Virginia senator’s daughter, Heather Bresch, is CEO of Mylan, the manufacturer of EpiPens. There is an alternative epinephrine auto-injector, but many allergists don’t feel comfortable prescribing it because of a historic defect rate.
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“The larger picture here is, what drives prices down is competition”.
