Prescription Drug Price Transparency Case Study

Abramowitz, P. W. (2017). The ongoing threat of rising drug prices: ASHP's work goes on.

I am here today to persuade you all that the Federal government should pass a bill to be able to negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies.

The current debate over the Mylan Company’s near monopoly of the epinephrine market through its EpiPen shows what can happen without monopoly regulation. While the cost to produce an Epipen is around $30, the price to the consumer is around $300 each. The economic implications for a family that needs to keep the device on hand to save a life can be excessively high, the emotional results of not having one when you need one are debilitating. This monopoly is further enhanced by state-enforced regulations requiring that schools keep EpiPens in stock and the, so-called, EpiPen law enacted in 2013, which leave little incentive for other pharmaceutical companies to develop their own technology for fast-acting emergency devices. (Bartolone, 2016) Breaking Mylan’s monopoly will not only lead to new product development but lower prices for consumers for a life-saving delivery

The cost of prescription drugs in America has risen to the level that most Americans could not afford them with out the help of an insurance plan. The greedy and capitalistic pharmaceutical companies rely on the United States to fund the future development of drugs with skyrocketing prices and enormous margins. Recently the issue has extended into the mainstream political arena, thanks in part to the new Medicare bill(2). With the push by congress for the importation of drugs from foreign sources, regardless of the potential long and short term consequences, the time to vocally support health care reform is upon the American public.

Studies have shown that without the benefits of the expansion, the outcomes of the individual health of Virginia residents have been suffering. We have witnessed an environment where people do not have access to affordable healthcare and the ability to obtain medications necessary to navigate through their disease process. In addition, they are also lacking the resources to obtain cancer treatments and life saving surgeries. As healthcare professionals who thrive on patient advocacy, we ask ourselves daily is this fair? The survey by the National Center for Health Statistics researchers found that 14 percent of people that fall below the federal poverty level do not take their prescribed medications in order to save money (LeWine, 2015). This number is alarming because the use of prescription medications can provide necessary benefits from fighting off infections, preventing strokes, and critical management of chronic diseases, like

U. S. citizens pay the highest prescription drug prices in the world. This is an injustice that must be corrected. The "U.S. forbids the import of prescription drugs by anyone other than the original U.S. manufacturer, and even then only when the drugs meet all the approval requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)" (Barlett & Steele, 2004). Prescription drug prices are outrageously high in the United States because of the influence of advertising on consumer purchasing, the misleading statements by pharmaceutical companies about the cost of research and development of new drugs, the manipulation of patent laws, the antiquated laws regarding importation of

In the article “Mylan Faces Scrutiny Over Epipen Increases,” by Jonathan D. Rockoff, the product of EpiPen is discussed, along with Mylan’s incentive to increase price, and the public and governmental backlash to this price increase. EpiPen is a lifesaving, emergency, allergy treatment that keeps those who have extreme allergic reactions from going into severe shock. It is used by millions of people, including many schoolchildren. A pack of two costs $608.61, which is up 548% since 2007, as the product has had 17 price increases over the years, according to Truven Health Analytics. Over 3.6 million prescriptions for the product were written last year, according to IMS Health.

Effective medication helps with the rising cost of health care. When medication is working, the patient’s visits to the hospital and doctor’s office will decrease. The cost of new medication is exceeding the buyer’s ability to pay for it, and pharmaceutical companies begin to lose money when the drug loses its patent. However, generic drugs become available for the medication, and patients can afford to purchase it to treat their disease or condition. National discussions with providers, payers, and health policy makers have seriously considered various solutions for mitigating drug cost, with the ultimate goal of allowing patients to access appropriate and necessary treatments (Li & Shane, 2017). The government no longer has to decide who gets the medication, and certain therapies because of cost. Insurance companies will now cover the drug in its generic form. On the other hand, the pharmaceutical companies can no longer profit from and generic drug, and are forced to make new and improved drugs for profit. The patient will benefit by getting the medication that is needed to have a better quality of

This meant it could exercise its government monopoly when it bought the drug and device from Merck and started marketing the EpiPen in 2007. Many auto injectors have come and gone but Mylan has cornered the market here in the U.S. Mylan truly became synonymous with the Epiepen when when President Barack Obama signed a bill in 2013 incentivizing schools to stock epinephrine, it was called the "EpiPen Law." Mylan lobbied heavily for that bill yet according to Mylans CEO Heather Bresch a broken health system that has let deductibles and copays skyrocket on many insurance policies. If deductibles had stayed low, parents and other EpiPen users probably wouldn’t have noticed that Mylan had increased the price of a two-injector set from around $100 seven years ago to more than $600 this spring. The Medical Device Excise Tax Section 4191 of the Internal Revenue Code imposes an excise tax on the sale of certain medical devices by the manufacturer or importer of the device. On Dec. 5, 2012, the IRS and the Department of the Treasury issued final regulations on the new 2.3-percent medical device excise tax (IRC §4191) that manufacturers and importers began to pay on their sales of certain medical devices starting in

It was announced that Mylan will soon release a generic version of the epinephrine injectors and it almost cuts the price in half. Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz of Utah stated, “the actual juice that’s in here that you need costs about a dollar.” Of course, Mylan still has extremely high prices for this relatively cheap product. Another way Mylan wants to help cut prices is by offering $300 coupons to those who need them. The only people that receive these coupons are the ones whose insurance does not cover the cost of the EpiPen

Mylan is the pharmaceutical company who owns and produces the lifesaving drug called EpiPen. EpiPen is an auto-injector that releases epinephrine into the system by penetrating through the thigh to control a severe allergic reaction. Many families look to this medication to save their child’s life in the event of an emergency. With all the lifesaving benefits this company offers, Mylan however, have been receiving a lot of criticism regarding the astounding price for the pen. According to David Dyan with The Fiscal Times, EpiPens were once sold for $57 per pen in 2007, today a single pen costs over $300. Mylan has imposed at 600% price increase on the lifesaving drug in the course of almost a decade without a viable explanation. To make matters

DiJulio et al. (2015) notes that twenty-five percent of individuals that are on daily medications, report they have not had a prescription filled or have cut their dose in half at least once in the last twelve months due to their finances. While the politics of some states have argued the high costs of specialty drugs, the bigger picture here has been missed. Friedman (2015) states that while some of these medications may have significant costs, organ transplants that are needed because of the diseases, are far more expensive. With the possibility of approval of these specialty drugs by the FDA expected as early as October of this year, the debate over federal solutions are on the rise. There has been a series of several federal solutions proposed by The National Association of Medicaid Directors to help contain the prices of these specialty drugs. One of the proposals includes a waiver, tying Medicaid to favorable outcomes. Another suggestion, would be to have the government purchase abundant sums of the drugs at a reduced price and offer it to the states at a more economical price (Kaiser, 2015). With at least four states already limiting consumers' expenditure expenses and other considering the obviousness needs to enforce drug companies to justify their extreme costs, the controversy around drug costs is likely to carry on throughout the states within the country. Congress has yet to fully take up this issue and finalize a resolution. Therefore, states will be left to test different policies that restrict the benefits of specialty drugs for those in utmost need (Farber,

A lot of people, particularly the patients who need them, are beginning to wonder why American drug prices are so high. It makes sense why the pharmaceutical companies are selling at the prices they do: they are a business; and they want to, above all else, make a profit. But the real question is: what are all of the

Over the past decade, pharmaceutical companies have spent a total of $2.3 billion in order to influence lawmakers in the U.S. Congress. This has proven to be a fruitful expenditure considering the fact that the five largest pharmaceutical companies have an evaluation of over $1.04 trillion. One of the first successful moves big pharmaceutical lobby groups was the passing of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. The “non-interference” clause in this act prohibits the ability of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to negotiate the prices of prescription drugs with pharmaceutical companies. By doing so, the pharmaceutical companies are allowed to price freely and optimally. However,

Mylan’s recent press release about making a generic EpiPen presents an excellent topic for our upcoming report. We all know someone who suffers from allergies and should care about whether or not they can afford their life saving medicine. By choosing this topic, we would have various sources of communication to analyze in our report such as the original written statement by Mylan and the numerous responses from employees, competitors, customers, and Senators.