(Editor’s Note: This makes us so angry!)
Any way you slice this, it is totally unacceptable.
On Tuesday, news broke that EpiPen would be hiking their prices- again (EpiPens provide emergency epinephrine to people who are suffering from potentially fatal allergic reactions). Back in 2007 the company who bought the rights to EpiPen- Mylan- began raising its price; in 2008 and 2009, they raised the price by 5 percent, the end of 2009 saw a 19 percent hike, and the years 2010-2013 saw 10 percent price hikes! Unacceptable.
But they didn’t stop there. From the fourth quarter of 2013 until the second quarter of 2016, Mylan raised EpiPen prices 15 percent every other quarter. No surprise either that its stock price has more than tripled- from $13.29 in 2007 to a high of $47.59 in 2016.
From the article:
“EpiPen prices aren’t the only thing to jump at Mylan. Executive salaries have also seen a stratospheric uptick.
Proxy filings show that from 2007 to 2015, Mylan CEO Heather Bresch’s total compensation went from $2,453,456 to $18,931,068, a 671 percent increase. During the same period, the company raised EpiPen prices, with the average wholesale price going from $56.64 to $317.82, a 461 percent increase, according to data provided by Connecture.”
Companies like this always have a plan, I mean, they aren’t doing this without reason. And their reason seems to be lobbying. After Mylan bought the EpiPen brand, the company also amped up their lobbying efforts- opensecrets.org reports that spending on lobbying in 2008 went from $270,000 to $1.2 million.
Why? Because they wanted to change legislation. Their work lobbying helped to fuel the FDA’s recommendation change on EpiPen:
- Before 2010 you could purchase one in a pack but now they only come in 2-packs.
- EpiPens are also now prescribed for at-risk patients- not just those with confirmed allergies.
- And a 2013 law states that public schools are required to stock them.
Not a bad return on their $700,000 lobby investment.
Thankfully, Senator Amy Klobuchar has written to the FTC requesting a probe and given that this isn’t the first time execs from Mylan have been involved in some scandal, we hope to see this issue dealt with swiftly. Remember, when Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the price of an HIV drug and patients saw a 5,000 percent hike overnight, the LOUD uproar pressured it to pledge lower prices and saw its CEO in quite a bit of trouble.
For those who may soon find it difficult to afford their EpiPen, many patients are buying abroad where the EpiPen is cheaper or “resorting to other devices that deliver epinephrine, including DIY syringes.”
Good luck and stay safe everyone.
