21–30 of 367 posts
The US is subsidizing the rest of the world. When Canada decrees that the price of something will by X, then guess who pays?
For example, an EpiPen costs $79 US ($99 AUD) in Australia.
Why haven't competitors entered the market with cheaper products?
There are really two villains here, Mylan, of course, but more importantly, the FDA. FDA regulations make the cost of bringing a new medical device to the market absurd. There are no competitors because the time and effort to bring a competing device is so ridiculously high that it doesn't pay to do so. I have a child with a peanut allergy. I am worried every damn day of my life. I see articles about people who die e…
what I see is an unholy alliance between the regulators and industry to extract max profits.
if you don't have an approving authority for e.g. Epipens, it seems to be that you get something like the supplements industry which is mostly marketing and exploiting the ignorant. you need some IP protection for the crazy amount of incredibly skilled R&D and massive testing that goes into an Epipen but this is ridiculous.
drug and medical device companies merge for maximum market power vs. insurers, who try to merge for maximum market power against drug companies and doctors/hospitals.
eventually you'll have just one insurer and one drug company and one hospital company and you can nationalize the whole thing.
just kidding, but I see Obamacare failing if it can't evolve, prices continuing to go up, and eventually everyone demanding a single-payer solution.
If the product is decades-old, why haven't generic variants appeared? Something seems to be missing from this article.
There are generics. What is patented is the delivery mechanism. I've had to administer it twice. You take the cap off and just push it into the thigh. The top part moves back and the needle pushes through.
Well you know, they need to recoup the R&D costs to develop the drug. > Mylan, the pharmaceutical company, acquired the decades-old product in 2007, when pharmacies paid less than $100 for a two-pen set Oh. This is why US health care is broken people.
For instance, I choose to be on a high deductible plan at my work (they offer both a high deductible plan and a traditional PPO). My wife has the choice of a reasonably priced HMO and a extremely expensive PPO.
On my high deductible plan if I need a refill for an epipen I pay the full boat unless I'm past my deductible (or really my HSA does) on my wifes HMO plan we pay $25 every time we need one. We both have prescriptions, what is the rational decision for my family to make if we need a new epipen?
That cost differences is not "free money", it comes out of the pocket of my wife's employer and peers rather than my employer and peers. There is a dramatic agency problem in the US health system as well.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are generics. What is patented is the delivery mechanism. I've had to administer it twice. You take the cap off and just push it into the thigh. The top part moves back and the needle pushes through.
Thanks, so this is the missing information. The article misleadingly says the medication is decades-old, where actually the pen itself is patented.
Courtesy ceejayoz below: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12340464
Why haven't competitors entered the market with cheaper products?
There are really two villains here, Mylan, of course, but more importantly, the FDA. FDA regulations make the cost of bringing a new medical device to the market absurd. There are no competitors because the time and effort to bring a competing device is so ridiculously high that it doesn't pay to do so. I have a child with a peanut allergy. I am worried every damn day of my life. I see articles about people who die e…
I also find your comment pretty uninformed considering that the FDA just paved the way for generic drug makers to basically "knock-off" super expensive biologic drugs like Humira and Enbrel which were previously covered by similar patents.
The FDA has it's problems - but to say that it is an agency staffed by people who don't care ("bureaucrats") who typically have both Ph.D and M.D.s and have dedicated their careers to ensure patients have safe and effective medicine is unfair.
edit: grammar.
Mylan refers the press to their local politicians "go talk to them about it, we pay our lobbying fees to get whoever we want elected specifically so we can charge any price we want, you can't do a damn thing - it's a free country".
One of the early on-line responses was "maybe we can figure out how to 3D print these cases". It turns out that an Epi-pen is just a plastic safety housing around a normal syringe. Some discussions: https://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/4y5481/cost_of_epipen... https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/4y7f26/epipen_f...
Edit:
Here's why I agree.
You download this design from the internet, and 3D print the parts. You then assemble it. Awesome!
Some time later, you get an allergic reaction. You use the pen, but it fails to work correctly. Who's responsible? The designer? You (if you're alive)? The printer manufacturer? Your friend who emailed you the design? etc.
There's a reason why even getting such a simple design considered for FDA approval and certified for use on live humans is such a long and complex process. It's easy to make something that works some of the time, but it's extremely hard to make it work essentially every time, especially in life-or-death scenarios.
Of course, the price hike is terrible and the company behind it deserves punishment, but that doesn't make it OK to endanger the lives of people.
One of the early on-line responses was "maybe we can figure out how to 3D print these cases". It turns out that an Epi-pen is just a plastic safety housing around a normal syringe. Some discussions: https://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/4y5481/cost_of_epipen... https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/4y7f26/epipen_f...
That second discussion got heated quite fast. I agree with the downvoters though. 3D printing a medical device is not something to take lightly. Edit: Here's why I agree. You download this design from the internet, and 3D print the parts. You then assemble it. Awesome! Some time later, you get an allergic reaction. You use the pen, but it fails to work correctly. Who's responsible? The designer? You (if you're alive)…
EDIT: Alternatively, a "better" temporary solution would be to arrange for the import of these from Canada, where the price is fixed by the government.
What would be morally justified, to stop it?