When I was in elementary school, the school's administration decided to make our entire school a peanut-free zone due to some students' severe allergies. We were not allowed to bring any peanut products, and classroom moms had to be extra careful to ensure they didn't introduce any potentially life-threatening treats. Additionally, homeroom teachers of students with allergies were required to carry an EpiPen in the case of an emergency. While emergencies were rare, when I was in fifth grade, my mom, the third-grade teacher at the time, had to give one of her students his EpiPen to try and stop his allergic reaction. The student ended up being fine, but this scary story is repeated daily all over the nation.
Many have severe allergies to various nuts and other foods that could lead to anaphylactic shock in the case of contact. An EpiPen is an auto-injector that delivers a single dose of epinephrine in order to halt an allergic reaction. A single dose of epinephrine is valued at about $1. Since 2009, the company Mylan has dominated the epinephrine market, holding the rights to the EpiPen. No other generic pharmaceutical company has received approval from the FDA for a similar product. In 2009, an EpiPen pack (which contains 2 Pens in case one does not deploy or a single dose is not enough to stop a reaction) costs buyers about $100. Today, a pack costs about $600.
There has been an uproar surrounding the recent price hike, comparing Mylan's chief executive Heather Bresch to the likes of Martin Shkreli and Michael Pearson, who both took over major pharmaceutical companies and raised prices to increase their own profit. Due to public outcry, both men were later forced to step down from their respective companies. Since 2007, Bresch's salary has increased from $2.5 million to $19 million, putting her and her company under further scrutiny from the public. In an interview with The New York Times, Bresch is unapologetic about the drug's rising price and the consequential monetary rewards, saying, “I am running a business. I am a for-profit business. I am not hiding from that.” She then continues to blame a large portion of the rising out-of-pocket costs on insurance companies, asking, “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? Tell me where that happens anywhere else in the system. It’s unconscionable."
Feeling that their voices were going ignored by Mylan, parents of children with severe allergies have turned to the media to describe the type of fear they now live their lives in: fear of a reaction, fear of needing to use an expired Pen and hoping it works and fear of not having an EpiPen on hand because of the outrageous prices. Jennifer DiMercurio told Huffington Post,
"So many of us are wondering if we’re going to be able to pay our mortgage if we pay for the pens. It’s bad enough when kids’ lives are lost just because they didn’t use an EpiPen quickly enough, but to not have it for a financial reason is despicable. It’s all we have and Mylan monopolized the market. I was scared to take my son out, especially as summer was coming ― even at the grocery store I’d be more worried and more on alert because I’ll be afraid, especially having to use them myself I’ve seen now how important it is to use it quickly and how fast it happens, and you don’t know if your pen is going to work because it’s expired.”
The EpiPen is a life-saving device that many depend on for their safety and survival. These recent price hikes are turning this necessity into a luxury. I urge you to read more on this topic and speak out against the rising prices of pharmaceuticals, whether it affects you directly or not. If a simple treatment could save your life, wouldn't you want to have unlimited access to it?
