If you haven't seen the news is a bit here's a shocker. Big pharma is screwing every day people who could otherwise die. That part isn't news. What is news is the most recent chapter. Enter EpiPen.
If you get stung by a bee you're probably going to have an allergic reaction. The most likely approach to handling that is a single dose EpiPen injection followed by some Benedryl. The EpiPen stops the immediate chain reaction that can close your throat keeping you from breathing , but it's effects are short term only. The Benedryl kicks in 30 minutes later and lasts for something like 4-8 hours.
So, what's the scandal? Well, Mylan, the makers of EpiPen have raised prices from $57 for a double shot to $600. I'm in my late 30s and these drugs have been around since I was a kid getting stung by bees. The primary reason that the price is going up is corporate profit. Zerohedge and the anti-media just released a great article summing up all the back door deals that Mylan made to kill their competition and use that lack of competition to drive up prices. Then they used the money they made from driving up prices to lobby congress to pass laws forcing places like public schools to keep these EpiPens handy. The Clinton Foundation gets mentioned (and over $100,000). It's worth a read.
So, what's the alternative to not dying from an allergic reaction because the medicine is too expensive? Buy the generic stuff. A local ABC news channel received a story out of Ft. Hamilton Florida where their Chief Medical Officer explains that you can buy a jar of epinephrine for $5.89 with no insurance required. Add an old Altoids tin and a syringe and you've got yourself an EpiPen-esque kit for $10.
Now the bad news about all of this is the CEO of Mylan, Heather Bresch, that's been doing all this bullshit has gotten herself a $17M raise for her efforts.
The good news is that Mylan's stock price price has dropped 12.4% as a result of the media (mostly alternative media) driving home this story.
So, do yourself a favor. Share this story. Buy some epinepherine. Buy some popcorn and hopefully we can watch a crooked business go down in flames.