EpiPen is a Monopoly but There is a $10 Alternative

The symptoms of anaphylaxis can be frightening and knowing that without  an EpiPen, one could die, makes the ability to afford the drug literally a matter of life and death.

The price gouging that is being reported on regarding the Mylan EpiPen is not due to capitalism and free market economics, but rather because the government has an enforced monopoly on the Mylan product, thus allowing the company to increase the cost of the drug by 400%.

As Jay Stooksberry of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) reports:

In what other markets can a business jack up its prices without alienating its customers and pushing them toward competitors? Answer: when that market has no other competitors. Emily Willingham of Forbes explained it aptly with a recent article titled, “Why Did Mylan Hike EpiPen Prices 400%? Because They Could.”

In early 2016, Sanofi, Mylan’s primary competitor, discontinued its line of Auvi-Q auto-injectors, similar to Mylan’s product. With Auvi-Q out the picture, Mylan gained 98 market share of epinephrine injectors.

But surely a new business will take advantage of this public relations debacle, enter the market, and offer a more affordable option, right?

Unfortunately – and as no surprise to libertarians and free market advocates – federal regulators continue to buffer the padding that surrounds Mylan’s monopoly. Shortly after the Auvi-Q recall, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries pitched a generic version of the EpiPen. However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) squashed their efforts, citing “major deficiencies” in their application. Teva plans to appeal the decision, but won’t be able to effectively move forward until 2017 at the earliest.

There is however a DIY epinephrine injector that Dr. Marcus Romanello, Chief Medical Officer and the Emergency Medicine Physician at Ft. Hamilton Hospital, in Florida, shared.

As the father of a child with allergies to tree nuts, he has dealt with ananphylactic emergencies with his oldest child.  The price of the EpiPen alarmed him, because many parents would not be able to afford the necessary “life-saving device”.

He wants parents to know they can save hundreds of dollars.

“I paid $5.89, cash price for this (bottle of epinephrine), no insurance required,” said Dr. Romanello.

Less than $6 for the life-saving medicine. Add an Altoid tin and syringe and you’ve got an epinephrine injector kit for under $10.

“Attach the needle. Pop the top and draw up the prescribed amount,” said Dr. Romanello.

But you lose the convenience of the EpiPen.

He says when your doctor gives you the prescription, they can show you how to give the shot.

“It does require some degree of medical comfort with a needle and syringe, drawing up the appropriate dose. If someone were to draw up a little too much, not an issue. In a setting of anaphylactic reaction too much is not going to hurt,” said Dr. Romanello.

Dr. Romanello hopes this will help families who might consider saving expired EpiPens that have passed their expiration date to save some cash.

Both Hillary and Bernie have railed against the “price-gouging” on Twitter, but their solution is always more government involvement.  This is what caused the issue to begin with, government involvement, thus creating the monopoly that is Mylan’s EpiPen.

The solution to this monopoly of the EpiPen is not price controls, as Hillary and Bernie imply. Price controls only cause shortages, and create even worse situations than high prices alone. The real solution is to allow the free market to work, and for generic options of the EpiPen to be sold at the drug store.

Monopolies rarely happen in a truly free market system. But where people with fistfuls of money see government regulators they can bribe to rig the market in their favor. The FDA is the problem here; Mylan’s actions are simply symptoms of a greater issue that is rooted in out of control government.

Big Pharm and the government won’t like the idea of a home-made epipen, but saving a life from anaphylactic shock, while also saving about $600 is worth the backlash, as well as the less convenient method that the home-made epi-injector offers.

Source: The Federalist Papers  ABC22Now