There is a false perception that once you have an EpiPen, everything will be fine.
But the truth is that sometimes the EpiPen can only buy you time.
Failure to treat an allergy-induced anaphylaxis quickly (a matter of minutes) with epinephrine increases the risk of death.
If you’ve ever seen someone go into anaphylaxis, it is pretty scary.
The person’s airways swell which can lead to them becoming unconscious.
However, if they have an EpiPen, they can self-administer the lifesaving medication by pulling of the cap and ramming the needle into their own thigh.
The medicine then enters their bloodstream immediately, kicking in within 30 seconds.
However, it is not a cure for anaphylaxis.
Any allergic reaction can require multiple EpiPens and it wears off 10-20 minutes after injection.
This is why a visit to the emergency room is required after using one.
Clearly, everyone who needs an EpiPen should have access to one.
However, in less than a decade, Myan, the manufacturer of EpiPen, has increased the cost of the medicine about 500%.
An EpiPen two-pack has risen from its $100 cost in 2007 to its now current price of $608.
A prescription includes two injections (which the FDA recommended in 2010 to patients anyway).
But often one prescription isn’t enough.
People want EpiPens at home, in their office, in their schools, even in their car. Just in case.
This means that people might buy more than one two-pen packs.
Also, they have a short, yearly shelf life.
Not only is that a lot of EpiPens, it is a lot of money.
This has caused the company to have more than $1 billion in revenue since 2014 from the device alone.
Even by offering vouchers to more than 3.6 million Americans to “reduce” the amount they are paying out of pocket, isn’t enough.
The “discount” does little to lower overall healthcare costs because it shifts more of the sticker shock to other parts of the supply chain like insurers and government programs.
Which in turn, can be passed back along to patients through their health plan and they ultimately end up paying the cost of the medicine.
With no promise to roll back the increased price nor pledge from refraining from raising the price further, will people start to look to sketchy sellers or forego the EpiPen?
The bottom line is that the cost of surviving has just been raised which is unethical, immoral, and wrong.
