Top US medical group blasts EpiPen’s ‘exorbitant’ costs

Mylan Pharmaceuticals has come under fire for raising the price of epinephrine injectors f
AFP

Miami (AFP) – The American Medical Association urged the maker of the EpiPen, a life-saving device that counteracts severe allergies, to drop its price Wednesday as outrage mounted over a soaring cost hike.

Mylan Pharmaceuticals has come under fire for raising the price of epinephrine injectors from $100 to $500 over the course of five years, a price tag critics say puts it out of reach for many parents.

EpiPens are used when those suffering severe allergies are stung by bees or accidentally ingest peanuts to ward off potentially deadly reactions.

“Although the product is unchanged since 2009, the cost has skyrocketed by more than 400 percent during that period,” AMA President Andrew Gurman said in a statement.

“The AMA has long urged the pharmaceutical industry to exercise reasonable restraint in drug pricing, and, with lives on the line, we urge the manufacturer to do all it can to rein in these exorbitant costs.”

A petition on MoveOn.org calling on Mylan CEO Heather Bresch to “stop price-gouging” has garnered 129,000 signatures from supporters.

A pair of EpiPens costs just $85 in France, the petition notes.

“Mylan, which has a near monopoly in the US, has seen its profits from the EpiPen alone skyrocket to $1.2 billion a year,” it says.

Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, whose daughter relies on EpiPen to protect her from the effects of anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction, has called the Federal Trade Commission to launch an anti-trust investigation. 

“There does not appear to be any justification for the continual price increases of EpiPen,” she said in a letter to the FTC.

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