So here is the deal - Johnny is correct about the cost of pharma research.
Regarding Mylen,parent company, their patent expires in 2017.
The price increase is tied to stock options and the opportunity of the company exec's to sell them because of increased earnings before the patent expires.

In my opinion the FDA protects Big Pharma not little citizen consumer.

An example - I take Lyrica.
Patent experation was @ 2015
Guess what the FDA did...gave Pfizer an extension to 2018...

'Nough said.

:-(

rob


johnnydoom

I think I understand the business side of the picture.

You had brought up an interesting point of "outside" influence. Which is not being considered nor wish to be included in the logical path of trying to figure out why there was a rapid raise in price. The media had attacked the pay raise for the CEO of Mylan but here is what I found , someone else's opinion of course but makes sense.
http://nypost.com/2016/08/29/theres-more-to-the-epipen-price-hike-scandal-than-just-greed/

It is no secret of the practice of Favoritism, Cronyism, and Nepotism. Personally I had know cases connected to government officials retired into "consulting" work with large enterprises.

    We looked into the MUCH cheaper alternative of carrying a vial of Epi and a syringe. If you've ever seen anaphylactic shock in action, you'd rather not wait for someone to draw and measure a dose of Epi. If you are allergic to something, dying with a vial of Epi in one hand and a syringe in the other is not something I would find particularly funny. From what I understand, the shelf life of the vial is much shorter than the pen also. In regards to the obligatory in EVERY instance cost comes up, "well we need to pay for research", Epi has been around a LONG time and is very inexpensive. The pens were developed for the military (I'm sure some of you also remember the Mark I Kit nerve agent antidote), and WE payed for that research.

    Yeah,

    I'm not against anyone from profit taking.

    Think of this as (1) Moral obligation, even it's being frowned upon these day, it's a life saving medicine for emergency treatment, not the patients could jump in a car a drive to a hospital . (2) it's starting price not too long ago was round $50, if they factor in the R & D and all other sunk cost, that could not be the initial introductory price line. Let's no forget the inflation and the legal and other costs as you mentioned. for the benefit to defend the price hike. It does not pan out to jump to $600 per kit. I ran a model calculating the cost with all the known factors figured in and it came to under $350 per kit.
    There are other reasons why it moved to over $600 per kit. I'm just guessing it's the accelerated recovery for the sunk cost before a competitor market it's similar product.

      Release

      I don't think the company selling Epi Pen has any money in R&D. The injector like Ack8236 mentioned was designed for the military using tax payer dollars. Then they bought the Epi Pen patent from another company. So they are just trying to increase shareholder profits by extorting money from people who don't know any better.

      Epi Pen is the Kleenex of epinephrine. There are other equally as good alternatives at much lower prices. Unfortunately, if consumers don't know this their doctors will just prescribe Epi Pen and they can't get the cheaper alternative. They must ask the doctor to prescribe and Epinephrine Auto Injector which can be a brand other then Epi Pen.

      Either way, I hope this company feels the pain of this type of behavior were it hurts. But, I doubt they will....... Also, I think the US is the only country were the price was increased this much. USA! USA! USA!

          Dufferman

          Thanks to clarify a few issue which was tangled .

          I thought so but was not certain 100% this company is gouging the needy.

          Unfortunately , human weakness and ignorance were among the top being explored by the profit seeking entities.

            Greed and lack of the milk of human kindness pervades our society particularly business but is everywhere.
            Maybe some more oversight/ controls like those on Wall Street would be in order
            Pharmaceutical lobby may be stronger than NRA, aka politicians in their pockets
            Motley Fool has article suggesting more Oversight by government recommended by clinton.
            Doubt if it is anything but another pre election gesture though

            Release I used to carry one in my car for emergency, together with the first aid pack. Not any longer after the price tag went from the initial $50 to over $100. What price does on put on a human life ?

            It sounds like you put a value of the incremental $50 on human life.

                dan

                Do you carry one on you if your family does not need one for treatment ?
                Kind of judgmental , aren't you ?

                When my kids were young, there were other kids in the school whom were allergic to a whole bunch of stuff. I carried one in my car just because it might save someone some day. Never had to use it.

                Yes, I stopped carry one in the car because the price point was high enough to take away things I could have done for my own kids. Certainly not carrying one now with price pint over $600 per kit. I'm considering the $20 kit made up by the County Paramedics.

                How about you ? Did you ever even carried one when it was below $100 per kit so you could value a human life more than the rest of us ???

                • dan replied to this.

                    Release Do you carry one on you if your family does not need one for treatment ?
                    Kind of judgmental , aren't you ?

                    No, I don't carry one.

                    You asked a question that you had seemed to answer in the exact same paragraph is all I was pointing out. I wasn't judging your answer.

                      So you were not judging ? Didn't come across that way.

                      I was answering what appeared to be a math question, although as I look back perhaps it was rhetorical.

                        dan

                        You know, I don't sit on my ARZ doing nothing but scrutinizing and poking fun of the others. Before you even try to understand the whole picture. I guess some are born blind and no one could help them.

                        I can't save the world by myself. But at least I tried to take care of my own and those around me as much as I could.

                        It's not measuring a human live by the dollar amount like you trying to stick it in. I used to carry EpiPen kit because I thought I could help just in case some of the kids in school have an allergy reaction. I'd love to continue to carry a kit in my car but I need to draw a line where the cost had starting to be a concern. Out of the 3 years I had it, never once did I have to use it.
                        The schools all have EpiPen in the nurse's room now and also one or two of the defibrillators kit. So the urgency of playing God is not there now.

                        What have you done ?

                          I was only pointing out the irony of your initial post's rhetorical question.

                          I'm sorry that you took it as an attack on your willingness to help those in need, as it wasn't intended that way.

                            dan

                            His post was rhetorical. My guess is he may not know the meaning of rhetorical.

                                Sneakylong

                                Sneaky,

                                Why don't you just bug off ?
                                Go find your kicks somewhere else.

                                Sometimes there is no obvious answers to a question. It takes a little higher I.Q. to get the picture.
                                And you don't. I guess you'll never have, and never will.
                                Asking a question without the obvious answer from one's point of view does not exclude the possible answers.

                                If you have nothing to contribute but to poke fun at the others, go bug those whom have to live with you.

                                    Release

                                    It was pointed out that you answered your own question. You put a (personal) price on a human life at $50.00. But you most likely meant it as rhetorical. That's all dan pointed out. You jumped on him like you jumped on me in the past when you obviously don't fully understand what's being said. I point this out because you may have a problem comprehending what's being posted. Similar to when you thought I posted Physiology and you took it as Philosophy and then ran off in a disjointed direction. The one to look at here is yourself.

                                      Hopefully our neighbors to the north have pharmacies that are stocked up.

                                      It would be irrational to not expect the cost of product to increase given the times. Anyone who has gone to the local grocery and purchased vegetables (like tomatoes!) in the past few months knows precisely how much more expensive things are today versus just a decade ago.

                                      So to expect the price of medications and the like to stay the same is very short-sided by the consumer.

                                      At the same time, however, there is indeed a notable difference between inflating costs to reflect the assumed increases in current inflation and rising costs to produce versus outright price-gouging.

                                      Hopefully two things occur as a result. Hopefully the fallout with such drastic increase in costs spurs the government to investigate potential price-gouging activity, and more hopeful - this spurs on another company to enter the market to help offset supply versus demand, which most of the time helps dictate (if not ensure) fair-market pricing.

                                      To me - this sounds like a pharmaceutical company taking advantage of their position within the market. And if so - hopefully they're investigated and held accountable accordingly.