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Mylan’s EpiPen price hike was a scheme to stifle competition, rival claims
- Super_Jambo 10y agoAh yes "free markets".
- scaryspooky 10y agoExcept there is very little "free market" about the medical device industry, which is heavily regulated and also able to abuse the patent system.
- setum 10y agoIt's hardly a "free market" - the barrier to entry is very high due FDA approval process which can take decades and millions of dollars.
- rm_-rf_slash 10y agoAnother day, another clear example of the "free" market ossifying into monopoly absent effective government regulation, while common people suffer. I yearn for the day that humanity reaches Star Trek ideals, and looks back on people like the Milan CEO the way we regard magnanimous tyrants and bloodthirsty war criminals.
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- tp3z4u 10y agoThe same government that protects patents and prevents you from buying from overseas suppliers. I buy all my prescription meds direct from India where I pay them with bitcoin. It's the exact same stuff and way cheaper.
- infinite8s 10y agoAre you sure it's the exact same? There have been studies looking at quality/purity of medications manufactured in different countries, and they don't all have high standards of purity.
- cmdrfred 10y agoI do the same and the meds I've received certainly work as evidenced by my ability to breathe currently. 3 month supply costs less than one months co-pay.
- sseveran 10y agoThis market is not free at all. There is a reason that Mylan has been the only company offering this product. The FDA has been slow to approve additional devices in this market. Mylan also created this market by lobbying congress to give money to schools to stock them with EpiPen's. When Mylan was testifying before congress the gentleman from the FDA refused to give any insight as to when additional manufactures might be given permission to manufacture competitors or provide any insight into the delay. http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/09/01/492235796/fda-fees-on-industry-havent-fixed-delays-in-generic-drug-approvals http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/09/01/49223579... https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Testimony/ucm521839.htm https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Testimony/ucm521839.htm
- at-fates-hands 10y agoThis is the beauty and the beast of "Free markets". In most cases, you get what free markets boast about - more competition, reduced pricing, better service. If you were to look at the statistics, these would either be edge cases or outliers when considering the overwhelming evidence that in most cases, free markets are far better than having burdensome government regulations. It's funny to hear people complain about how bad the free market system is in this case, but are also crying about employment immigration issues and how we can't get MORE H1-B's visa's, and why SV companies can't bring in more highly skilled candidates from other countries. It cuts both ways. There is a median in there. Heavily regulated or totally free markets never work, we need to find a balance.
- pthreads 10y agotl;dr Sanofi filed a lawsuit against Mylan alleges antitrust behavior. Essentially the article says that Mylan jacked up prices but offered steep rebates to "third party payors" on condition that they do not reimburse Auvi-Q (made by Sanofi) effectively shutting them out of the market. To me though the kicker was at the very end -- "The list price of the newly released Auvi-Q is set at $4,500." That is for the device now being sold by another company (Kaleo). I just don't understand what is going on here. EpiPen is priced at what $600? CVS sells a generic for about $100 (Adrenaclick).
- maxerickson 10y agoOne factor is that "Adrenaclick" is not a generic EpiPen. It is a different branded epinephrine autoinjector, with generic versions available. The FDA regulates epinephrine autoinjectors so that a prescription for EpiPen must be filled with an injector that has the same operating instructions as EpiPen. Adrenaclick and generics do not have the same operating instructions as EpiPen. It's not a completely ridiculous regulatory decision, but it certainly factors into people not using the alternatives.
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- taneq 10y agoThis 'Auvi-Q' thing... I don't get it. It's just a rectangular EpiPen. Oh wait, it talks to you. Why do you need an EpiPen to talk to you? You literally just take the cap off, whack it to your (or their) thigh, and count to 5.
- endorphone 10y agoYou literally just take the cap off, whack it to your (or their) thigh, and count to 5. In an emergency situation it's occasionally other parties, with no experience or knowledge of these devices, who administer. The design decision was likely made for observed reasons.
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- nomercy400 10y agoSo what are the chances that a US federal court is going to rule against a US company with a near 100% marketshare versus a French company that no longer sells the product?
- noir_lord 10y agoWell you need to hit that flying pig with a snowball as it sails over a chasm in Hell, about those odds.
- matt4077 10y agoPlease don't spread the idea that courts practice economic nationalism, at least not without some proof.
- jessaustin 10y agoThere's a sucker born every minute...
- matt_morgan 10y agoI take issue with the title. Screwing some other corporate conglomerate is not worse than screwing people at risk of their lives.
- JoeAltmaier 10y agoSame result here? By raising prices then offering deep discounts, Mylan prevented the cheaper alternative from being offered to millions of people.
- passivepinetree 10y agoYes, but doing both at once is worse than either one.
- phkahler 10y agoI always advocate that medical service providers and pharma should be required to charge the same price to all customers for a given service. Different providers/doctors would be free to charge different prices of course. Discounts, rebates, and any other special pricing should not be allowed. The only possible exception would be a charging LESS for someone (an individual) who is not insured or has some other financial hardship.
- epmaybe 10y agoA more elegant solution in my mind, barring price fixing, would just be price transparency. Let people see the costs and use their own judgement to pick what they value more.
- UnoriginalGuy 10y agoYou could combine the two: - Price transparency for common treatment/diagnosis. - They must charge insured and uninsured the same rate, no more 70% discounts for the insured. This would, if nothing else, get the insurance company and patient on the same team (since they're both fighting for lower prices across the board, rather than just higher insurance discounts on bonkers pricing).
- phkahler 10y agoWhy should the insured get a discount at all? Or do you mean their insurance would cover 70 percent of the cost? It is a common practice to charge less to insurance companies than patients. I had a friend with a high deductible who used to have everything billed through his insurance company - because it was cheaper that way even though he paid the whole thing while below his deductible. This amounts to screwing the uninsured people who need a price break the most. It's seriously unjust.
- phkahler 10y agoThat's exactly what I'm talking about. Transparency just adds the idea of publishing the price up front. I tried to clarify - different doctors are free to charge different rates for a given service (say 15K for an appendectomy), to make them charge the same is price fixing and should not be allowed. What I advocate is that Alice, Bob, and Charlie all get charged the same price by Dr. Sam regardless of insurance coverage or any of the other deals that take place today. Dr Alfred is free to charge a completely different price than Dr Sam.
- yaakov34 10y agoSo Mylan is more evil than Satan's pet vulture for hiking the price of EpiPen to $600, and the good guys just released a new version of their device for $4500? Or am I reading TFA wrong?
- quantumhobbit 10y agoYeah I don't understand the $4500 price. Is that per dose? Or is it some sort of reusable device? Either way it is hard to see that being a viable competitor.
- 086421357909764 10y agoI think the argument here is that they were forced to sell the competing product to a new vendor (due to stifled competition) whom are now pricing at $4500, which they weren't.
- epmaybe 10y agoIt's for 2 pens I believe, last time I checked on their website. The company is trying to get insurance to cover the costs, so cost for you wouldn't technically change, but it just increases healthcare costs all around for no reason other than profit.
- maxerickson 10y agoYou are imagining any praise you see for the $4500 device.
- 086421357909764 10y agoI think the argument here is that they were forced to sell the competing product to a new vendor (due to stifled competition) whom are now pricing at $4500, which they weren't.
- totalrobe 10y agoYou are reading this wrong. Sanofi, the company that filed the lawsuit, had pricing in line with EpiPen: "In 2013, Sanofi began selling Auvi-Q, which works to quell life-threatening allergic reactions, just as EpiPen does. Sanofi priced Auvi-Q on equal footing with EpiPen. And, initially, Sanofi claims it showed promise of gaining market share and providing real competition to EpiPen, which at the time had more than 99 percent of the market, according to Mylan. But that all changed when Mylan began using dirty tactics, Sanofi alleges." Looks like Sanofi sold the product to another company - the $4500 number is a price from the company Kaléo. "In 2015, Sanofi pulled Auvi-Q following quality control issues. The device has since been put back on the market by another pharmaceutical company, Kaléo. The list price of the newly released Auvi-Q is set at $4,500."
- Animats 10y agoEpiPen price in the UK: £89.99 [1], or US$115. [1] https://onlinedoctor.lloydspharmacy.com/uk/allergy/epipen https://onlinedoctor.lloydspharmacy.com/uk/allergy/epipen