EpiPens
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- Published on Sunday, 18 September 2016 05:30
- Written by editor
The U.S. makers of EpiPens are gouging families so badly that even Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli is jealous of the deal.
The drug in EpiPens costs just pennies, but Mylan is charging parents over $600 for a device that literally saves people’s lives. Tell it to stop gouging families and make EpiPens affordable again!
A,
The EpiPen has saved the lives of countless people all over the world. But the pharma corporation that owns it has deliberately boosted its price in the United States by over 500%.
EpiPens save lives. They instantly reverse anaphylactic shock from a potentially fatal allergic reaction -- like from a bee sting, fish, or peanut allergy. And now families need to spend upwards of $600 USD for a product that could literally make the difference between the life and death of a loved one.
Tens of thousands have spoken out against this excessive price gouging. Will you join them?
Price gouging in the US sets a global precedent. This one is so outrageous that even Martin Shkreli, the hated “Pharma Bro” who made a cancer drug go up 5,500%, is jealous of the deal.
Epinephrine, the drug that EpiPens deliver to the body, costs only a couple of cents per dose. Mylan acquired the drug nine years ago when it cost less than $100 for a two-pen set. Now, with some families reporting paying over $500 for the drug that can save their loved ones lives, Mylan is raking in profits of $1.2 billion from EpiPens alone.
Since EpiPens expire after a year, families need to purchase new pens or refills every year. Mylan is literally holding hostage people with severe allergies. It needs to stop now.
In a statement to NBC News, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders said it best:
"The drug industry's greed knows no bounds. There's no reason an EpiPen, which costs Mylan just a few dollars to make, should cost families more than $600. The only explanation for Mylan raising the price by six times since 2009 is that the company values profits more than the lives of millions of Americans.”
When Martin Shrkeli boosted cancer and HIV drug Daraprim by 5,500%, nearly 300,000 SumOfUs members stood up against the price hike -- since then he’s been ousted as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. It’s time to stand up to Big Pharma once again, and halt this kind of extortion before it's entrenched worldwide.
Tell Mylan to end this price gouge and charge a fair price for EpiPens now.
Thanks for all you do,
Liz, Nicole, Toni, and the rest of the SumOfUs team
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More information:
EpiPen Price Rise Sparks Concern for Allergy Sufferers, New York Times, Aug 22, 2016
EpiPen Price Hike Has Parents of Kids With Allergies Scrambling Ahead of School Year, NBC, Aug 17, 2016
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