Don’t ever think that social media, when used as a platform for voicing your opinion, doesn’t work. When Mylan upped the price of EpiPen, the company put the cost of a life-saving device used by a large number of children with severe allergies in this country, out of reach for many families.
For the past few weeks, members of both the House and Senate, fueled by growing public outrage, have themselves been vocal in raising questions about the soaring price of EpiPen and the anti-trust implications that surround Mylan’s actions.
All the hoopla has led up to the Full House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform announcing on Thursday that a bipartisan hearing with Mylan officials will be held on Wednesday, September 21, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. The title of the hearing is “Reviewing the Rising Price of EpiPens.”
Mylan CEO Heather Bresch, who by the way, is the second highest paid pharmaceutical company head in the country, will be testifying along with Dr. Doug Throckmorton, the Deputy Director, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Mylan came under fire in August when they jacked up the price of EpiPen to around $600 for a box of two pens. The price increase was part of an ongoing plan of action by the company which acquired the rights to EpiPen in 2007.
During that same period of time, from 2007 to the present, the wholesale price of the EpiPen, which costs about $4.00 to make, rose from $56.64 to $317.82. Now that is a hefty price hike, according to Connecture, an online health insurance provider.
“There is justified outrage from families and schools across the country struggling to afford the high cost of EpiPens,” reads a joint statement from committee Ranking Member Rep. Elijah Cummings (GA) and committee Chair Rep. Jason Chaffetz (UT). “We look forward to receiving answers next week from Mylan about its dramatic price hike for this life-saving medication.”
Yes, there is justified outrage, and everyone’s talking about it, too. Mylan bought itself into a nice little profit-maker and now, maybe, just maybe, our government will do something about the way big pharmaceutical companies are gouging the American public.
The big problem with only one company holding the rights to a medicine, or for that matter, anything else that is widely used, is this allows the company to charge whatever they can get away with for the product. That is why we have anti-trust laws in this country, yet we are seeing this very thing more and more, as large companies merge, forming massive conglomerates.
What does this do to competition? The answer is simple: there is no competition. As long as the FDA allows pharmaceutical companies to get away with keeping a price-lock on a medicine by not allowing cheaper (and just as effective) generic versions to come into the market, health care in this country will suffer.
