• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

EpiPen Price Rise[W:398]

Their product - they make it, they set the price.

It's not a complicated thing.
 
prometeus said:
What is it with some pharma companies are they being taken over by douche bags?
Forbes Welcome
Click to expand...

The "Update" Section tells an interesting wrinkle to this story. Apparently the company has increased access to free epipens for schools and those who qualify for the "My EpiPen Savings Card" which offers free epipens to those who qualify.

So it seems that the increase in Epipen cost it meant to offset all the free epipens.

Ah, wealth redistribution....
 
Simply, letting the free market define prices in healthcare is ****ty because when it comes to medicine, consumers are not rational actors (and that's not out of choice).
 
Ikari said:
It is rather disgusting how far the system has pushed to immoral profit over everything else. There needs to be a change with our healthcare and medicine structures. Living cannot be just for the rich.
Click to expand...

But hey, vote for Gary Johnson who believes firmly in healthcare privatization and that these companies should be able to do pretty much whatever the **** they want, right?
 
prometeus said:
And in the mean time let some kids die?
Click to expand...

Why not have the Government supply all needed meds, do all the research, production and give them away fro free, that way, no child dies. What could go wrong?
 
Surrealistik said:
But hey, vote for Gary Johnson who believes firmly in healthcare privatization and that these companies should be able to do pretty much whatever the **** they want, right?
Click to expand...

They already do whatever the **** they want. The way it is already is whatever the **** they want. The status quo is why these epipen prices just skyrocketed. The system is currently broken.

So yes, I will vote for Gary Johnson who will at least attempt a change, because continuing how we're going isn't sustainable. But you go ahead and vote for Trillary and pretend that something will change even though it won't.
 
Ikari said:
It is rather disgusting how far the system has pushed to immoral profit over everything else. There needs to be a change with our healthcare and medicine structures. Living cannot be just for the rich.
Click to expand...

Since you are such an expert on the epiepin, then tell us a few things. Where is manufactured. What does it cost per unit to manufacture? What supplies are needed to produce each pin? What is the labor costs involved? (remember, Cal. just raised min-wage to $15 per hour, double the previous min-wage) How much does it cost for government regulation, FDA, EPA, OSHA? What profit margin does the company make on this item? How much profit is immoral and how much is not?
 
DVSentinel said:
Since you are such an expert on the epiepin, then tell us a few things. Where is manufactured. What does it cost per unit to manufacture? What supplies are needed to produce each pin? What is the labor costs involved? (remember, Cal. just raised min-wage to $15 per hour, double the previous min-wage) How much does it cost for government regulation, FDA, EPA, OSHA? What profit margin does the company make on this item? How much profit is immoral and how much is not?
Click to expand...

It’s not the drug being delivered that brings the bucks, though—epinephrine’s a cheap generic. The cost trickery is in the delivery system, the Mylan EpiPen.

The EpiPen’s been around since 1977, but Mylan acquired the autoinjector—which precisely calibrates the epinephrine dosage—in 2007. The patient now pays about 400% more for this advantage to receive a dollar’s worth of the lifesaving drug: EpiPens were about $57 when Mylan acquired it. Today, it can empty pockets of $500 or more in the U.S. (European nations take a different approach to these things).
Click to expand...

The drug is generic, it's the delivery system. Can you show that any thing you mentioned there caused an order of magnitude increase in production costs? No, what happened was that the only competitor failed, and when that happened, they jacked prices from 50 bucks to 500 bucks.
 
Renae said:
Why not have the Government supply all needed meds, do all the research, production and give them away fro free, that way, no child dies. What could go wrong?
Click to expand...

Lots could go wrong. Likely we need a balance between government research and private distribution. But we do need a change, what we have is just running out of control at this point.
 
Ikari said:
The drug is generic, it's the delivery system. Can you show that any thing you mentioned there caused an order of magnitude increase in production costs? No, what happened was that the only competitor failed, and when that happened, they jacked prices from 50 bucks to 500 bucks.
Click to expand...

In other words, you have zero evidence that greed is the only reason the price of the pen went up. Got it.
 
i guess whoever invested millions developing this should just go bankrupt because 'for the children'?
 
Ikari said:
The drug is generic, it's the delivery system. Can you show that any thing you mentioned there caused an order of magnitude increase in production costs? No, what happened was that the only competitor failed, and when that happened, they jacked prices from 50 bucks to 500 bucks.
Click to expand...
It may well be that the cost of goods sold for Mylan for the EpiPen increased.
They buy the injector from King Pharmaceuticals, who was acquired by Pfizer.
If king raised the price on the injector that Mylan pays (alot) Mylan would have to increase the price.
Pfizer could make their competitor look bad, while draining their profits.
 
Ikari said:
The drug is generic, it's the delivery system. Can you show that any thing you mentioned there caused an order of magnitude increase in production costs? No, what happened was that the only competitor failed, and when that happened, they jacked prices from 50 bucks to 500 bucks.
Click to expand...

So, in other words. After claiming to be enough of an expert to label them immoral, you actually know little to nothing about their profits or their costs.

No, I cannot show that. Unlike you, I never claimed to be an expert on the subject.

Hmm, so their competitor failed (usually indicating a lack of profitability) and your upset that the remaining company upped their prices. Of course, if you could of answered my previous questions, you might have found that the rise in price was to insure the remaining company does not fold. Without that knowledge, neither thee or me knows for sure.
 
countryboy said:
In other words, you have zero evidence that greed is the only reason the price of the pen went up. Got it.
Click to expand...

No, when their competitor died, their prices shot up. This is nothing but running a system to the rails because if people want to live, they have to buy the product and there is no competition.
 
DVSentinel said:
No, I cannot show that. Unlike you, I never claimed to be an expert on the subject.
Click to expand...

I never claimed to be an expert, so don't lie. Lying will not make an argument.

I stated that this is unabashed greed, as it is, demonstrated by the fact that they increased prices ten fold as soon as their only competition went away.

And they didn't fail because of lack of profitability. If you read the article, it was over allegations of improper dosing.
 
Ikari said:
No, when their competitor died, their prices shot up. This is nothing but running a system to the rails because if people want to live, they have to buy the product and there is no competition.
Click to expand...

Other than your opinion, you have no evidence this is the case. Right?
 
Ikari said:
Lots could go wrong. Likely we need a balance between government research and private distribution. But we do need a change, what we have is just running out of control at this point.
Click to expand...

IT's OUT OF CONTROL!!! SOMETHING WASN'T FAIR!! It's a CONSPERIACY!!! GREED CORRUPTION! EVEIL!!!

lol
 
Ikari said:
I never claimed to be an expert, so don't lie. Lying will not make an argument.

I stated that this is unabashed greed, as it is, demonstrated by the fact that they increased prices ten fold as soon as their only competition went away.

And they didn't fail because of lack of profitability. If you read the article, it was over allegations of improper dosing.
Click to expand...

In order for you to know enough to name it "unabashed greed" or "immoral profits", you would be an expert. You made a claim that only a knowledgeable expert could attest to, thus, hence you claimed to be an expert.

BTW, if there were only two companies manufacturing it, then what would it cost the remaining company to meet manufacturing needs? If it was a 50/50 market share, then they would have to immediately double their manufacturing and distribution, what would that cost them and who do you think should pay it?

So, in other words, they were caught doing something wrong, was fined and probably sued, which then took away their profitability. Business always comes back at the end to profitability.
 
Well well well, it looks like the eeeeevil pharmaceutical companies aren't solely to blame for the rising cost of prescription medications. Gorsh, who woulda thunk it? :roll: EpiPen cost soars, but it's not the only drug to - CNN.com

Now, the new study suggests that a combination of market exclusivity provisions granted to drug manufacturers, and coverage requirements imposed on government-funded drug benefits, are both driving the high costs of prescription drugs nationwide.
Click to expand...

"There are problems at every level -- including inefficient government policies, Food and Drug Administration regulatory rules, physician prescribing practices -- that contribute to manufacturers' abilities to charge high prices, leading to high drug spending, and unfortunately suboptimal public health outcomes,"
Click to expand...

Oh, and the eeeeevil manufacturer of the EpiPen?

Mylan offers a My EpiPen Savings Card to help consumers with cost. Last year, nearly 80% of commercially insured patients used the card to receive the device for free, according to Mylan. The company also has distributed more than 700,000 free EpiPens to schools nationwide.
Click to expand...

Furthermore, the price of EpiPens didn't just go up overnight, it has been steadily increasing over time.
 
This is an FDA regulatory issue first, and a 'pharma greed' issue second.

One has to realize that companies will do whatever they can to squeeze a profit out of a product. Thats whats happening.

The FDA needs to step up and streamline generic NDAs quickly to prevent this stuff from happening.


In the meantime, capitalism does have some cracks you can exploit if you need an epi pen. Because pharma is also more than happy to screw insurers.

Three ways pharmacists can help patients afford EpiPens | American Pharmacists Association
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom