Epi Pens are used to stop people, including children, from dying when they go into shock from exposure to an allergen. A set of two pens from the pharmacy cost $600 and they are made in China of inferior materials that cause the flimsy needles to break when used. Children have died because of the shoddy workmanship.
Believe it or not, certain meds that can save the life of a child have price tags beyond belief because parents will sell their soul to save their child. Tim Dorsey, a writer who writes about Florida and lives in Florida, wrote about this problem in one of his books.
In the book, the drug company owner charged a huge amount of money for a simple med that would kill a rare, deadly parasite in a child. In the story, Serge Storm, a psychopathic dispenser of poetic justice, infected the owner with the parasite and stole the man's financial resources so he could not buy the drug. I love Tim Dorsey's books. Serge gets to dispense poetic justice in a way that in the real world we can only dream of (and get arrested for).
My twin grandsons together have nine autoimmune problems. Currently, doctors are recommending for one twin a terrible, damaging drug that will cost $72,000 a year just for the injections, not counting the cost of hospitals and doctors and tests and who knows what else. It is not a cure. It is a maintenance plan for the rest of his life. It can cause organ failure and all kinds of damage. His parents are struggling to keep him on a treatment that will not harm him but is very hard to maintain. This grandson and his twin already have a set of $600 Epi pens each. They each get a new set every year.
A Silicon Valley engineering consultancy did an analysis of the Epi Pen in 2016 and estimated manufacturing and packaging costs about $10 for a set of pens. In September 2016, the Four Thieves Vinegar published a video and documents describing an auto injector for $30 using off-the-shelf parts with a repurposed insulin auto injector. This device is not validated by regulatory agencies.
Epi Pens are copyrighted until 2025. After that date, anyone can make them and sell them for any price they choose. If the price does not go up, it will cost $600 x 2 children x seven years equals $8,400 for auto injectors that cost $420 to manufacture. That is money that will not go for their college.
Thirty Two million people are estimated to have food allergies. Over five and a half million are children. Between 2007 and 2016, cases of allergic reactions increased by almost 400 percent.
We need someone to start a movement to stop pharmaceutical companies from ripping off patients. Pharmaceutical companies making a $590 profit on a Epi pen that cost ten dollars to make is beyond outrageous. Multiply 32,000,000 people with allergies by $590 profit per en and the pharmaceutical company made $18,880,000,000 (eighteen billion, eight hundred eighty million) on Epi pens alone in a year. This is immoral and should be illegal.
And, sadly, this is only one instance of pharmaceutical companies over charging for products that can save the lives of children and adults. Once can only hope there is a hell in the after life.