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The recent and tremendous price hike of the Epipen contradicts this line of reasoning. I don't see anything pointing to regulatory or compliance costs being beh

The recent and tremendous price hike of the Epipen contradicts this line of reasoning. I don't see anything pointing to regulatory or compliance costs being behind this.

repiret 10y ago
The price went up because Mylan got a monopoly on epinephrin auto injectors, they have that monopoly because regulations prevent would be competitors from swiftly and/or economically bringing competing products to market. Nobody has to buy an auto injector. Diabetics draw insulin from a vile and inject themselves all the time, those with severe allergies can keep viles and needles too. I buy EpiPens because I don't want to do that. And before Avi-Q was recalled, I bought those instead, even though my costs were twice as high, because I liked them better. You can say that capitalism is the wrong way to produce drugs, in which case its Congress' fault for not instituting a different way. Or you can say this is a failure of the regulated drug market to produce a result in the public interest, in which case its Congress' fault for not regulating the market differently - thats what I believe. If you're arguing that this is a moral failure of the Mylan stockholders… well I think thats a hard position to take, and no matter what demonstrating that auto injectors aren't expensive to build doesn't really try to make that argument.
- function_seven 10y ago
  I must admit that my reply was narrow-focused on Mylan not being able to pin the costs on compliance. After a re-read of your original comment, I see exactly the point you're making. You're right. The reason Mylan jacked the price up isn't directly due to their costs of compliance, it's related to the industry's cost (that is, any potential competitor), and the competition that is stifled because of it. Your point about handling the injections the old fashioned way is a good one as well. But it's worth noting that diabetics have tons of experience self-injecting using standard needles and vials. A typical Epipen user has probably never had to do so, and when the drug is urgently needed is a bad time to get started. So for these users it's not simply a matter of convenience.
- deleted 10y ago
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- deleted 10y ago
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The recent and tremendous price hike of the Epipen contradicts this line of reasoning. I don't see anything pointing to regulatory or compliance costs being behind this.

repiret 10y ago

The price went up because Mylan got a monopoly on epinephrin auto injectors, they have that monopoly because regulations prevent would be competitors from swiftly and/or economically bringing competing products to market. Nobody has to buy an auto injector. Diabetics draw insulin from a vile and inject themselves all the time, those with severe allergies can keep viles and needles too. I buy EpiPens because I don't want to do that. And before Avi-Q was recalled, I bought those instead, even though my costs were twice as high, because I liked them better. You can say that capitalism is the wrong way to produce drugs, in which case its Congress' fault for not instituting a different way. Or you can say this is a failure of the regulated drug market to produce a result in the public interest, in which case its Congress' fault for not regulating the market differently - thats what I believe. If you're arguing that this is a moral failure of the Mylan stockholders… well I think thats a hard position to take, and no matter what demonstrating that auto injectors aren't expensive to build doesn't really try to make that argument.

function_seven 10y ago
I must admit that my reply was narrow-focused on Mylan not being able to pin the costs on compliance. After a re-read of your original comment, I see exactly the point you're making. You're right. The reason Mylan jacked the price up isn't directly due to their costs of compliance, it's related to the industry's cost (that is, any potential competitor), and the competition that is stifled because of it. Your point about handling the injections the old fashioned way is a good one as well. But it's worth noting that diabetics have tons of experience self-injecting using standard needles and vials. A typical Epipen user has probably never had to do so, and when the drug is urgently needed is a bad time to get started. So for these users it's not simply a matter of convenience.
deleted 10y ago
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deleted 10y ago
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