Every three minutes, an allergic reaction sends someone to the emergency room. Every year, 150-200 fatal allergic reactions occur. Allergies are a serious issue all over the world, and the one thing people with allergies rely on the most, is their EpiPen.
Mylan, the producer of the EpiPen has recently made a call that has outraged people all over the US.
Mylan announced that the retail price of their EpiPen is now more than 600 dollars. The price of the EpiPen has skyrocketed over the past nine years. In 2007, the price of the EpiPen was about 100 dollars. Now with Mylan’s recent announcement, the EpiPen price has increased by over 400 percent.
This announcement has caused an outrage from parents whose children have food allergies.
Secretary Hillary Clinton also found the current price of EpiPens to be sickening. Hillary explains the outrageousness of the pricings and goes on to accuse Mylan, “–and it’s just the latest troubling example of a company taking advantage of its consumers.”
CNBC had an exclusive interview with Mylan CEO Heather Bresch and in this interview she claims, “No one’s more frustrated than me,” and she later informs the audience that they are trying to make sure kids with allergies get the medicine they need.
So what happens if students can’t afford the EpiPen? Mylan CEO Heather Bresch assures that they are doing everything in their power to make sure that “…everyone who needs an EpiPen has an EpiPen.” Mylan has adopted a savings card which will save full price-paying customers up to $300 on the EpiPen pack (two EpiPens).
How does this affect Clayton? There are many students with allergies at Clayton, and some who have more severe allergies, must always keep an EpiPen on hand in case of life-threatening emergencies. In 2012, Mylan created the EpiPen4Schools program which has provided 700,000+ EpiPens to more than 65,000 schools in the US. The EpiPen4Schools program has prevented many reactions from becoming fatal, and has also helped spread awareness of allergies to schools across the country.
This life-saving piece of technology is becoming more and more expensive which is leading to lots of problems for families. The EpiPen can mean the difference between life and death for a child, so should Mylan reconsider the pricing of their EpiPen? Or was this a good decision?