The $400 EpiPen

I honestly believe that you need legislation to keep capitalism in check. It's an inherently amoral system.

 

Golly, perfesser, is it because innocent children could die as a result?

Save the economics lesson for somewhere else. Let's talk morality here.

 

Best I can tell, a pair of EpiPens costs, what, $600? And in the vast, vast, vast majority of instances, those pens will go unused, meaning that for the vast, vast, vast majority of purchasers, it's a one-and-done thing every year.

So it costs a family with such vulnerabilities ... the equivalent of a 12-pack of beer a week.

And let's not even consider the fact that there's a perfectly good substitute that can be had at Walmart for ... the equivalent of two McDonald's cheeseburgers a week.

Yes, I can certainly see why this is evidence for why we need to "blow it up."

 

Why is it right? Because it's legal?

 

Why aren't more people buying the cheeseburgers then?

 

WTF?

Oh, I see. Sorry, didn't get what you were asking.

That's a good question. Perhaps they're not aware of that option.

 

If there is a cheaper substitute that's just as effective, why are people bitching about $400 EpiPens and not just buying the $75 or whatever Walmart version?

 

Can You Get a Cheaper EpiPen?

 

Defend Gatehouse next. Thanks.

 

A dollar's worth of IV fluid -- sterile salt water --- retails at over $500.

It was closer to $1,000 at my daughter's hospital.



http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/08/27/health/exploring-salines-secret-costs.html?_r=0

 

I don't know jack about Gatehouse (cue the jokes about me not knowing jack in general), but if you'll point out something you'd like me to consider, I'd be more than happy to take a stab at it.

I guess I should note that I'm not defending Mylan's actions here ... I'm simply challenging the notion that they're indefensible. I don't think Mylan is obligated to defend its pricing/marketing. It acquired whatever it's selling fair and square, and it ought to be able to do with it as it sees fit.

I do think many (both here and elsewhere) are guilty of drawing a conclusion by looking at only a very narrow part of the picture. Mylan's EpiPen strategies didn't emerge in a vacuum. Sector-wide changes in insurance and required coverage interacted with other developments (e.g., tort law as re: those who administer treatments for anaphylaxis) to create the opportunity for Mylan to make a shit-pile of money on these things.

You might also consider the fact that when something like this goes down, good things come of it. If Mylan keeps making shit-piles of money on EpiPens (I'd bet heavily against it), it ain't gonna be long at all before someone (lots of someones, actually) comes along with a comparable product that puts an end to all of that. Excess profits draw new entrants like nobody's business.

 

Study Gatehouse next. Thanks.