Following public criticism, Mylan offered a cheaper generic version of EpiPen, but the problem within the pharmaceutical industry remains. NYT reports Mylan is employing a common strategy, which entails, “take something old and repackage it to make it new and patentable — and then see what price the market will bear.” Other medications flooding the markets are priced at huge rates. Asthma inhalers, once priced at less than $15, now can cost between $50 and $100.
Some companies are creating devices that are safer and more convenient for consumers, and using these features to justify exorbitant prices. The United States may need to take a closer look at these prices, as adrenaline, a dose of epinephrine, costs merely $1 to produce but carried a retail price of $50 in 2004. The cost-benefit ratio is becoming more and more skewed, according to NYT.
To combat price hikes, Aaron Kesselheim, MD, an associate professor at Boston-based Harvard Medical School, tells NYT, the U.S. government could bring in emergency imports of cheaper products when needed. Additionally, a national agency could implement price caps on certain medicine or evaluate rate increases companies place on unchanged medications.
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