The CEO of a former Fortune 500 company, who is also the daughter of a U.S. senator, is under fire for jacking up the rates of life-saving anti-allergy device known as the EpiPen.
Heather Bresch, whose father is U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., became president of Mylan Pharmaceutical in 2009 and CEO in 2012. She is no stranger to controversy: She moved Mylan’s headquarters to the Netherlands last year after a corporate “inversion” merger with Abbott Laboratories.
The move enabled the company to operate its headquarters in the U.S. but maintain corporate citizenship in Holland, benefiting from a lower tax rate.
But the EpiPen scandal, sparked by a sudden price hike, could cause more trouble for the company, its CEO, and her lawmaker father. This week, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Subcommittee, demanded hearings on the EpiPen’s 450 percent price increase in just seven years.
The cost of a two-pack of EpiPens — shots of epinephrine that relieve symptoms from severe allergies that restrict breathing and can cause death — has risen from $103.50 in 2009 to $608.61 today, despite no changes in the chemical formula. Two vials of the proper dosage of epinephrine and manual syringes would cost only $20; some put the cost of the dosage in each EpiPen at as little as $1.
Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have all decried the EpiPen’s skyrocketing cost. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, in a statement today, called the situation “the latest troubling example of a company taking advantage of its consumers.” Even infamous pharmaceutical price gouger Martin Shkreli has called Mylan “vultures.”
“This outrageous increase in the price of EpiPens is occurring at the same time that Mylan Pharmaceutical is exploiting a monopoly market advantage that has fallen into its lap,” Klobuchar said in a statement.
Klobuchar, whose daughter uses EpiPens due to severe allergies, is calling for hearings in the Judiciary Committee, and an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission into Mylan’s price hikes, which have occurred every quarter since 2013. “The commission should also report to Congress on why these outrageous price increases have become common and propose solutions that will better protect consumers within 90 days,” Klobuchar said.
EpiPens are critical for anyone with severe allergies to things like bee stings or peanuts to carry, and doctors recommend that they carry two, in case an extra dose is needed. But they expire after a year, forcing families to pay for a new dosage annually. Doctors wrote 3.6 million prescriptions for EpiPens last year, giving Mylan $1.2 billion in sales off that single product.
The price increases coincide with Mylan’s purchase of the product in 2007, and with Bresch taking control of the company shortly thereafter. Mylan has virtually no competition for epinephrine auto-injectors, as they control 87 percent of the U.S. market. One competitor, the Auvi-Q, was recalled from pharmacies last year; the Food and Drug Administration rejected another potential alternative from Teva Pharmaceuticals this spring.
Bresch, born Heather Manchin, started at Mylan in 1992. She was hired after her father, then a West Virginia state senator, told then-CEO Mike Puskar that she needed a job.
From working in the company’s basement, she moved through the ranks to become Mylan’s chief lobbyist in 2002. In that position, she contributed to the 2003 Medicare prescription drug bill, which barred the federal insurance provider from bargaining with drug companies over prices. She was also key to the passage of the 2012 Generic Drug User Fee Act, which increased inspections of foreign facilities manufacturing drugs for the U.S. market. While it increased regulations at Mylan’s own sites outside the U.S., it also made it more difficult for foreign drugmakers to sell their products domestically, knocking out many of Mylan’s competitors.
The bill passed Congress easily, with her father among those providing yes votes.
Congress also passed a law in 2013 prioritizing grant money for schools to stock EpiPens in case of emergency, since children are most at risk for a severe allergy attack. Some states require EpiPens in their schools, including West Virginia, where Gayle Manchin, mother of Heather Bresch, was head of the Board of Education when the policy went into effect in 2013.
Manchin has spoken out against his daughter’s use of an inversion to renounce Mylan’s corporate citizenship, saying that such tax dodging should be illegal. He has not, however, made any public statement about EpiPens since the scandal came to light, and his office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Intercept.
He has been hearing from people on his Facebook page. “Buddy what is up with your daughter?” asked one commenter. “How could you raise a child that takes advantage of suffering families?” Another wrote, “Your daughter Heather Bresch and Mylan Pharmaceuticals just raised the cost of an epipen 400%. People will die because of her greed.”
Mylan claims that they have improved the EpiPen product, necessitating the cost increases. “Ensuring access to epinephrine — the only first-line treatment — is a core part of our mission,” the company said in a statement.
Correction: August 24, 2016
A previous version of this article incorrectly identified Mylan as a current Fortune 500 company. Fortune removed Mylan from its list after the company left the U.S. for tax purposes.
I am just reading this for the first time.
Therefore, I just learned about the familial tie for the first time.
Thank you for pointing this out, Mr Dayen.
So much for the argument that more “Women in the C-Suite” will make Management more responsive to “Family Issues and Childcare”. Bring f*ckwits to the table and all you have is a table full of f*ckwits. Don’t forget to vote for Hillary so she can make everything better for…Hillary. Woot!
That’s ridiculously chauvinistic.
Hillary obviously does not speak for, nor is she indicative of, women.
Other than the Clintons being unique, they are our (the US’) preeminent political family.
The House and Senate should pass a small bill that sets all of Mylan’s patents on the Epipen to expire next year with no possibility of extension. Also raise only Mylan and Abbott’s taxes to domestic rates despite the foreign inversion as part of that same bill.
Does anyone seriously doubt that U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin the 3rd is the one who really makes all the decisions behind this company makes Does anyone seriously doubt that?
If you think this is bad just wait till the get the T.P.P. rolling .
In Massachusetts, the state issued some 20 medical marijuana permits 17 of those permits went to current relatives of congress and to former member of congress
Thank you Intercept for what you and your writers do. We are so mired in the muck. Is there any way out. So many hidden agendas, until your courageous and hard working reporters have revealed the underbelly of so many snakes. so poisonous they are to this country and for what we allegedly stand for. So many responses that are so on target . I thank you all.
greed is an addiction. those with this addiction need care. those with a severe greed addiction need to be institutionalized. it’s obvious that greed causes people to lose their connection to their humanity. the sooner concerned citizens demand care for those addicted to greed the sooner those poor individuals will be able to regain their humanity.
So much for “we need that money to research new life-saving miracle drugs.”
She made 19 million in 2015, not bad for a fake graduate.
Mylan and the Clinton Foundation go way back to the beginning of the AIDS drug price negotiations. Has anyone looked to see if they are Foundationdonors?
Take Klobuchar – or not. She supported the ACA, which did not allow the government to negotiate drug prices. She seizes on this outrageous hike – as have other politicians – without pointing to the real culprit… a Big Pharma that prioritizes profit over anything else, even health.
Health is a public good, like water, food, shelter, good air. These companies should be seized and their CEO’s expropriated.
The ACA had nothing to do with negotiating drug prices. Medicare Part D proposed by GWB is the culprit
Stand up and blame Congress – look at the wonderful work they do. They gave us the bailouts….and the WAR in Afghanistan/Iraq/Syria/Libya/Yemen…..
Based on the lies of the WAR CRIMINAL George W. Bush that they are protecting..
Charge whatever you want de-regulation – its like taxes you pay – – – Do you really feel you are represented
It’s a rather straightforward fix, isn’t it? Manchin writes a piece of legislation which is hard and fast, drills down on companies avoiding their share of the taxes through such schemes as offshoring parts of their companies to avoid or pay much lower taxes in other nations. Not all that hard to come up with an idea, if you have the willingness to be loyal and patriotic towards your own nation. The fact that he has not already done this, is pretty much telling us a story of his true loyalties. Any one of us could have a child that does not behave appropriately. How many of us go along with it, and let is slide? You don’t have to stop loving a child to stand up against something that is absolutely immoral, unethical, blatantly hurting the United States of America. You would stand against looting right? Then why not stand against the looting of the American tax system. That is what it amounts to when you take your company offshore, and do not pay your taxes. Legal or not. It is just wrong. That goes for any company, not just this one. The CONGRESS has been in bed with Big CORRUPT CORPORATE BOARDS for FAR TOO LONG! End this corruption now and block TPP before it gives those same BOARDS even more power over stripping people of more dignity.
All agreements re drugs must be renegotiated. The physicians also must take a stand and not be part of the problem by accepting payments for pushing certain drugs and other gratuities. It’s a national disgrace to allow this type of greed to be imposed upon those unfortunate human beings who need certain drugs to survive. Shame on the pharmaceutical companies, our govt, and physicians –all parties to this greed.
I was reading about lobbying on Open Secrets. Then I looked at Big Pharma and made a list. Several corporations print their adherence to California’s law. This is part of the statement from Celgene:
Based on a good faith understanding of the requirements of Section 119402 of the California Health & Safety Code, Celgene hereby declares that, to the best of its knowledge, its Comprehensive Compliance Program addresses the California statutory requirements for inclusion of policies addressing the RIG Guidance and PhMRA Code and limits on gifts and incentives to health professionals. Subject to the above, Celgene also hereby declares that it is, in all material respects, in compliance with its Comprehensive Compliance Program as of January 1, 2013.
The company is taking full advantage of its government-granted monopoly. Should we blame the company or the system which grants monopolies?
Yes and yes.
I would love to have her explain EXACTLY what changes were made to the Epipe n that cost another 500 dollars per package since the dosage itself is only a dollar or two. She should be in the pentagon where planes cost more per pound than solid gold.
From her Wiki page:
“Main article: West Virginia University M.B.A. controversy
Bresch was an MBA student at West Virginia University until 1998. In 2007, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Bresch had claimed to have an MBA degree from West Virginia University, but the university disputed that. The university subsequently awarded her an EMBA despite her not having attained sufficient credits (22 out of the required 48). Her father was governor of the state of West Virginia at the time.”
In the ensuing controversy, the university announced in April 2008 that it would rescind Bresch’s degree. Michael Garrison, WVU President at the time, was reported to be “a family friend and former business associate of Bresch”[8] and a former consultant and lobbyist for Mylan.[9] After a faculty vote of no confidence, Garrison and several university officials subsequently resigned.[10][11]
See 15 US Code Chapter One:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/chapter-1
The entire pharma, health “care”, and insurance industries are in violation…
Rule of Law?
Anyone?
Hillary will poo-poo the scandal until people forget (a month at most) and then she’ll appoint Heather to a White House position where her marketing skills will come in handy.
Irrelevant – off point
It is totally on point. The scandal is about money and politics. The Clintons foster the type of behavior exhibited by Ms Bresch.
For years, I have waited for Hillary Clinton to run for President of the United States of America. Now, the time has finally come and I am so disappointed. She either has changed or I never really knew this woman’s politics. What happened to you Mrs. Clinton? I thought you were for women’s rights. I thought that you had a good, compassionate heart and cared for the people that were so poor and lost they needed someone to help them. I thought that when you became president that the world couldn’t help but notice that the United States FINALLY HAD A REAL PRESIDENT. What happened to you?
Her company was one of the largest contributors to her father. He should be booted out of office due to his corruption and she should be in jail for price fixing. Easy remedy. But we both know this country is too much of a cowardly government to hold one of their own thieves responsible. NEVER is government held responsible for their corruption. Throw this corrupt SOB in PRISON. So this is how the rich sleep at night? Must be nice to be born without a consciousness regarding right from wrong. She moved the company from the USA. TAX the hell out of the pens coming back into the USA and make them PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE! Otherwise ban them from selling in the USA. Someone would be more than happy to fill the void at a much lower cost. Try Mexico or another country that isn’t as greedy as Americans.
It was a terrible blow last year when I had my first bee sting reaction since I’m a full time gardener. And then, only able to afford catastrophic insurance, the Epipen isn’t covered, so I had to pay $450 dollars out of pocket so I would feel safe going back into the garden. Healthcare for profit is criminal at best. I’m always curious how wealthy Yurtle the Turtle people can sleep at night, or die peacefully.
and this p.o.s. got where she is today how? the 1st thing that we need to do is outlaw the corp inversion then close our markets to scumbags like this bitch (guess i’m a little angry).
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/investigate-west-virginia-senator-joe-manchin
Please sign. I’m concerned about the possibility of insider trading, and if the State was instructed to procure this more expensive product. The author did not include the entire story: it was discovered she had listed on her resume a degree from WVU she did not receive. Big scandal in the State with unanswered questions.
Worth noting is that the man who became WVU’s president (Mike Garrison) before her grades were made up on the spot served on then Gov. Manchin’s transition team following his election and selected five members (including the chair) of WVUs Board of Governors who would eventually appoint him as university president. The search committee received an endorsement of Garrison from Milan Puskar, Mylan’s founder & Bresch’s boss. All this transpiring under Daddy Joe’s administration. But obviously he was outside the fray and had no knowledge of the shenanigans playing out – he said so himself.
When the wealthy thieves finish their development of robots, and decide (Bilderberg) that humans are too expensive, and a burden on the planet, guess what. I think there will be a pill for that.
TAMMANY HALL
Corruption is a criminal practice in a democracy. But the US is no longer a democracy.
http://dennisloo.com/Articles/princeton-and-northwestern-study-the-us-is-an-oligarchy.html
Hellary clinton is an influence peddler. Congress will vote according to the instructions of their sponsors. The US economy is run by thieves. The zions of israel want US to start and fight their wars. Nestle’s wants the water supply. Monsanto wants the food supply. Oil cos will poison our ground water which comes up to irrigate the crops. And mainstreet is forced to pawn their homes for reverse mortgages.
IT’S ALL BAD. And Obama has turned his back on America to push the TPP before 2017. youtube*dot*com/watch?v=Rw7P0RGZQxQ#t=489.734625
Spot Right On!
The zions of Israel. Sounds like you are a neo-Nazi. Sort of takes away from the rest of your critique.
Sounds bad, could have worded it better but its true nevertheless. Why are you a neo-Nazi if you criticize Israel its just an opinion.
“THE CEO OF a former Fortune 500 company, who is also the daughter of a U.S. senator, is under fire from for jacking up the rates of life-saving anti-allergy device known as the EpiPen.”
from who? or tiny from typo.
A prime question I would have and this article doesn’t touch on his many universities through prior research probably had a hand in this invention of the EpiPen it would be interesting to know if tax dollars led to the development and then privatization of this product go check it out and then let us know so we can be absolutely outraged
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/revealed-american-taxpayers-funded-100-of-research-used-to-develop-big-pharmas-epipen/
we have a government of thieves, just like wallstreet.
While the EpiPen pricing is more industrial government elite family business, here is a Forbes article on patent “trolls” that litigate against corporate IP.
A Powerful New Weapon Against Patent Trolls – Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadershipforum/2012/11/15/a-powerful-new-weapon-against-patent-trolls/#6371ad855fe7
Corporations often “Reverse Troll” usurping existing “prior art” in the public domain and obtaining patent protection they do not deserve to jack up price. The Patent system now serves Corporations and the true inventor is often not even acknowledged or rewarded. That is not only unfair rewarding usurpers at great public cost but kills the golden goose that creates new discovery that could have life saving value.
Excerpt:
The Achilles heel of any patent is what is known as prior art. Prior art means any previous patent, technical paper, or public knowledge or use of an invention that makes it ineligible for a patent. … half the time a patent gun is leveled … it’s loaded with blanks, not real bullets. About half of the patents asserted … end up invalidated when litigated in court or re-examined by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. If you include patents whose claims are narrowed .. the a staggering 89% of all patents reviewed by the USPTO are judged either partly or wholly invalid.
“Heather Bresch, whose father is U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va”…
Not a sociopath, because it’s hereditary…she’s a psychopath…like her daddy.
And Dems wonder why Sanders supporters can’t stand beltway tribal Democrats.
Restricting the overseas pharmaceuticals may not be a horrible idea since you don’t want Americans getting a bad dose of medicine. However, maybe the law should be changed so the FDA could do it on a drug by drug basis when a manufacturer engages in price gauging. So if the pharmaceutical gets bought out by a vulture who then raises the price more than xyz% then the FDA should be able to open the market to foreign drug competitors for that particular drug as punishment for price gauging. And I am specifically thinking about drugs like this one and the one where that jacka%% who testified before congress bought out another company with the specific purpose of jacking up the price of a specific drug.
Then they’ll jack the price xyz-1%. I would recommend allowing generic versions of medicine right off the bat, but with additional taxation. Thus competition is preserved while innovation rewarded.
If this isn’t yet another HUGE reason for the United States to move to a “Medicare for All” health care system where ALL drug prices can be negotiated, then I don’t know what is.
Considering all the government subsidies the pharmaceutical industry gets from the federal government one might think that negotiating “fair” prices from them would be appropriate.
http://inthesetimes.com/article/6948/a_spoonful_of_subsidies_for_big_pharma
Disgusting.
More like, maybe the FDA should quit screwing everyone.
So, the seed of many a politician has brought forth as corrupt a child as their own life has reeled in venality. Maybe the kid got that way by studying the dark Trojan Horse of comprise that her Dad voted through bill after bill, year after year, which over time sold out the American people.
Of course they have to raise their prices! How else are they going to pay for all that TV advertising? And I enjoy the commercial; it’s really well done, why they even have a black person in it! What more could one ask for?
Oh, I know: A prohibition on advertising for prescription medications except in medical professional publications. Like in the much-maligned EU.
I agree whole-heartedly.
It seems like practically every other commercial now is for some type of pharmaceutical!
They should all be banned!
Thank God for the DVR! Nothing makes me happier than speeding my way past all these repellent commercials!
Watching very little TV has it’s advantages, not the least of which being all that rescued time. And not having to see those awful ads.
“Ensuring access to profit — the only first-line priority — is the core part of our mission,” the company said in a statement.
The defenders of this corruption who are saying “it’s just one company that got greedy” aka the one bad apple defense are delusional or liars.
Americans pay far more for every drug than is necessary or remotely fair, and the coopted regulators and corrupt Congress are willing participants… not to mention Obama who is actively working to push “trade deals” that are actually enforcement mechanisms to protect bogus patent protections, increase regulatory hurdles for competition, and export our corrupt system to exploit people in other countries the way we are being exploited.
These one bad apple types are defending crony capitalism not capitalism.
I wrote too rapidly. Its actually ok because Ms. Shkreli is a Democrat.
Isn’t that why we hire senators? So they can get contracts and get laws passed for family members who then go ahead and rape and extort the American public for fun and extraordinary profit? Thats certainly why I voted for mine.
“She was hired after her father, then a West Virginia state senator, told then-CEO Mike Puskar that she needed a job.”
Happy elite family business as usual. if they had not gone to total greed and just more slowly tripled the price it would not have been news worthy. The elites are due to for a comeuppance from We the people. Greed may be good but it must have some limit and common good.
>the Food and Drug Administration rejected another potential alternative from Teva Pharmaceuticals this spring.
Thank God for BDS or we might have to worry about cheap EpiPens
What this piece needs is to include a comment from Dr. Jill Stein, Green Party presidential candidate and Harvard trained medical doctor. I can get you started with this tweet from three days ago:
“Why did the price of the lifesaving EpiPen skyrocket 400%? Because we don’t have a single payer health care system to keep greed in check.”
https://twitter.com/DrJillStein/status/767454929145335808
Amen.
And the hits just keep on coming. Corporations, lobbiests and the government (Federal and State) sleeping in the same bed. Thank the goddess for the handful of independent news sources that still exist – The Intercept, Democracy Now! and so few others.
Keep up the extraordinary work you do. Humankind needs your input and insights.
Daughter of a leach is a leach? Shocking.
The spice must flow….Dune
“The Clinton Global Initiative has done a tremendous job bringing awareness and access to affordable anti-retroviral medication around the global,” said Heather Bresch, chief operating officer for Mylan Laboratories, the parent company of Matrix, the largest supplier of generic ingredients used to make anti-retroviral drugs.
The number of patients in treatment has grown to about 2.5 million, a 185-fold increase since the initiative began in 2002. “But the number of untreated is still staggering,” Bresch said.
Mylan partnered in 2009 with the Clinton Foundation in 2009 to give a lower-cost alternative for four HIV drugs. Records from the Clinton Foundation show that Mylan has donated between $100,000 and $250,000. While it’s not clear when the company made the donation, it is likely when the partnership with the foundation was established.
Mylan, according a press release from the Clinton Foundation, pledged to offer the HIV drugs at $425 by 2010, 28 percent lower than its competitors. It is not clear if Mylan followed through on that promise or what the cost of those drugs are today.
no kidding?
1. start a business and serve the public
2. grow your business to serve a larger public
3. forget serving the larger community, weaponise the business and target the public
here we go again.
Were i president, i would NATIONALISE ALL LIFE SUPPORT BUSINESSES. Because life comes first.
Exactly what they say in Caracas.
Zzzzzzzz
Glad to see they rejected competition from Teva.
“Over the past few years, we have successfully championed and expanded legislation and policies that allow or require schools to stock epinephrine auto-
injectors.”
From their 10-K public filing filed on Feb 16, 2016. Pg 21.
Looks like they got the government to require schools to carry their product. You know, I thought Congress was suppose to ‘champion’ and ‘expand’ legislation.
Great to know they are so confident to have this skill set among them.
http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/ABEA-2LQZGT/2710785693x0xS1623613%2D16%2D46/1623613/filing.pdf
It’s all there folks. Ms. Bresch made a big mistake. She got too greedy and exposed the game to the little people. Clearly this is a widespread practice by most pharma/medical corps. Here’s hoping the rage is placed where it belongs, not so much on Mylen but on the system that rewards this kind of crony behavior. Kudos to The Intercept for staying out of the partisan gutter. Another great piece.
I doubt it’s a mistake. Remember, she got hired for this gig in the first place because it came out she managed to get an MBA without putting in the credits. Businesses don’t want people who play by the rules to put in an average performance – they want the people who can break the rules with absolute impunity to get whatever they want done, period. That’s why Trump is so big also.
The mistake was raising the price so high that the usually disinterested public and complicit media had to take notice and the phony politicians were forced to feign outrage. And again, no need for the tired partisan angle…this is game crony corps. and the state have made and are directly responsible for.
They want people that will DO ANYTHING for a buck and it looks like they have one…..
Ron Paul – “EpiPen is a device that injects epinephrine to quickly open up airways for people undergoing severe anaphylaxis because of an extreme allergy. It’s sold by Mylan and the price for a pack of two has increased from about $100 in 2007 to over $600 as of May 2016. But a firm cannot just willy-nilly raise their prices without a competing firm leaping in to give consumers what they want at a lower price. Well, Mylan has a great friend who keeps would-be competitors out of the market, or at least makes it so difficult for them that they eventually go out of business. That friend is the FDA.” More below:
http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/the-lack-of-epipen-competitors-is-the-fdas-fault
8/24/2016
I rather doubt epinephrine is under any kind of patent. With any kind of legitimate regulatory body, it should be pretty easy for competitors to market completing products of equivalent efficacy at much lower cost. To me, this is the issue: why is no other company making (allowed to make?) a competing product at a competitive price?
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/69499/000119312515162299/d914226d10ka.htm
The One-Time Special Performance-Based Incentive Program at Mylan
CEO compensation is usually the driver in any changes in a company’s behavior. That being said,
Ms. Bresch has received 1.4M SARs (Stock Appreciation Rights) as part of her compensation to drive Mylan’s stock price from ~$53/share to $73/share.
Under SEC rules, public companies have to disclose certain segments of their business when it gets in excess of 10%. During their latest 10-Q public filing, I noticed that they have a “Specialty Segment”. Normally, you would find a description of the segment, etc. That’s missing here which is unusual.
However, you can find reference to an increase in unit volumes sales of EpiPen as a result of customer contract negotiations. ie…the gouging.
They attribute about 1/3 of the gross margin increase to EpiPen and 2/3rds to other product lines.
WalMart sells an equivelent product for $70 each http://www.goodrx.com/epinephrine
Has this corrupt political family mandated that schools buy their daughters product at a grossly inflated cost?
It’s great that you pointed this out. However, I’m guessing doctors can’t prescribe that for whatever reason. That’s the real problem, and the serious question. What barrier is supporting this monopoly?
According to other articles I’ve read today (which must be true, because they’re on The Internet and they’re even from News Websites!), there are two problems with the Adrenaclick – one is that EpiPen has had much better advertising for a long time, so it’s the one that doctor’s know, and people think of as the generic name (like Tylenol.)
The other is that its instructions are slightly different (in both cases, they’re boldly displayed on the package) – you have to take off both caps on the Adrenaclick vs. one on the EpiPen, but it’s not that much different, and it’s certainly easier than using a $1 hypodermic needle to inject $2 worth of medicine when you’re panicking (and the government makes it harder for simple needles to be around because of the War On Politically Incorrect Drugs, and fewer people have practice using them because of that, unless they have diabetes and use injectable insulin.)
A friend of mine died because she got stung by a bee and didn’t have her injector with her. This was ~30 years ago, before the EpiPen was around, and she was playing golf and had left her injector in her purse back at her car. These things need to be widely available.
“EpiPen Uproar Highlights Company’s Family Ties to Congress”
I love how Congress is implied as having a role in this mess even though several legislators are referenced in terms of trying to fix this.
And by love I mean that sometimes the “America sucks” coming from your stories is overwhelmingly petty.
The first thing that we are going to do is chuck the whole FDA team over the Wall. They are far worse than all the illegal Mexican rapists and murderers and the dishonest Press. Some Crooked Senators will also have to take the free one-way short-n-sweet manually-launched aerial trip to Mexico.
This predatory strategy of phama companies needs to be killed. They first look for essential life-saving drugs, then buy out the company that manufactures it, then destroy all competition either by crooked legislation or a corrupt FDA, and then shamelessly hike the price.
After a long time I am seeing an article here that’s worth reading. Thanks for this ….
I’m not surprised; her father is a Democrat.
This is economic terrorism. What a dirty phrase ‘economic terrorism.’
The threat of, or use of, price and or market controls to coerce a vulnerable population into purchasing products that they would not purchase given an economic environment characterized by competitive pricing and available substitutes.
That seems to be a sufficiently good definition going off of the terrorism definition curve.
By that definition it appears that high ranking US government officials are guilty of colluding with corporate entities to commit acts of economic terrorism.
Hatch of Utah threatening undermining ongoing peace negotiations in Columbia, in order to halt the production of a cheaper cancer drug substitute, as reported by the intercept, comes to mind.
Perhaps US citizens are the victims of an ongoing economic terror campaign as opposed to victim of unrelated acts of terrorism.
Econ terrism…Perhaps we could implore Obama to do an appropriate drone strike. He’s good at killing, you know.
Price-gouging demonstrates that a core part of your mission is lying.
Interesting. I had just noticed that the Epipen is suddenly being advertised heavily on the internet, which seemed odd — either you need it and you know it, or you don’t need it so you don’t need to know about it. I’m not sure what kind of new markets for it they are imagining, but this profiteering would go along with treating it like any other profitable consumer product.
This report summarizes the complete the corruption of our medical system and the tandem corruption of our Congress. We need to get off our collective asses and march with pitchforks at the ready.
If enough people marched to the Capitol building we could close it down. And most importantly, we have the authority to do it, we have our founding contract, The Declaration of Independence…
Why do you think the NSA keeps tab on you? Such atrocious thoughts need to be banished in their infancy.
Corruption of our medical system and congress? How so? This is one company that got greedy, got caught and are now being investigated by legislators. Marching to the capital with pitchforks will only make you look like a guy in the city with a pitchfork.
We cannot account for 1.4 million hanguns, rifles and machine guns we gave to Afghanies and Iraquis. Imagine if they handed out those weapons to US citizens?
The American public considers cockroaches to be in a higher standing than Congress:
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2013/01/congress-somewhere-below-cockroaches-traffic-jams-and-nickleback-in-americans-esteem.html