Many people who are prone to allergic attacks are also prone to having their throat air passages close from the internal swelling and inflammation. Without immediate treatment this can cause many children and adults to suffocate and die. They die a terrifying death of asphyxiation.
In 1977, the life-saving Epi-Pen was created. The self-injecting shot of adrenaline can sometimes halt the air passages from closing further, for a brief period, which gives the victim more time to seek emergency care.
A pharmaceutical company called Mylan acquired the EpiPen in 2007, and immediately began hiking up the prices to a whopping 600%. That’s wonderful for the multi-billion dollar company, and it’s been awesome for Mylan CEO Heather Bresch who gave herself a big fat pay raise. Reports show that from 2007 to 2015, Bresch's total compensation went from $2,453,456 to $18,931,068 — yet she can’t afford to offer her “generic” drug at a fair price in order to save the lives of those who are in need and don’t know how to obtain the life-saving medication any other way.
Forbes reports:
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).
It’s what the market will bear, so what’s the problem, right? Only this: Somewhere, right now, a cash-strapped parent or budget-limited patient with a severe allergy will skip acquiring an EpiPen. And someday, they will need it in a life-threatening situation involving exposure to a trigger…and they won’t have it. And they will die. Because they couldn’t afford the delivery mechanism for $1 worth of a drug to keep them alive. Two turning points, a death and one company at the crossroads.
Some understand that danger all to well. I have a condition called Chronic Idiopathic Angio Edema that’s now in remission. There is no definite cause that has been found and the condition can often cause the swelling of extremities, internal swelling, facial swelling of the face, eyes, jaw, mouth, and tongue and the biggest danger is when the swelling travels to the throat closing the air passages. An attack can be triggered at any given time — by any given factor including emotional or physical stress, dental work, menstruation, surgery, pets, dust/dander, aspirin, even scented candles...
I’ve had the condition off and on for 30 years, but in the early 2000s my swelling attacks came weekly, sometimes daily and were often extreme. My life began to unravel. I couldn’t work in my trained profession of music publishing, as the job required personal meetings and I often had to cancel. Sometimes I couldn’t drive due to being drowsy from the medication prescribed (which often didn’t work). Making plans was difficult never knowing if I would swell up that day. I became severely depressed which did not help the condition. I was also the single mother of a middle-school-aged daughter.
When the swelling would go near my mouth and/or tongue, which thankfully only occurred 6-10 times a year, I would sometimes wait it to see if it would go away for fear of the hospital/ER bill. I had been dropped by my insurance (pre-Obamacare) and there was no insurance company would take me (NONE). With no income, I went through my entire retirement and savings to pay for medical appointments and full-price medication including EpiPens. Even then they were difficult to afford.
Going to the emergency room brought on more fear worrying about going bankrupt and losing my home from hospital bills. The stress would cause the swelling to worsen. Times when I “would wait it out” to see if the swelling would go down, I would realize I had no choice but to go to the ER and rush to the hospital. I couldn’t afford an ambulance. I would be immediately seen, finding myself gasping, hardly able to breathe. It has to be one of the most terrifying feelings anyone can experience.
I was told I needed to carry two EpiPens — at all times. Sometimes the hospital would give me a handful to take home, other times I’d pay about $70 for two. But there were time I simply could not afford them and would “chance it” until I could find the money. Also, they expire after so many months. It was tough to see that money go down the drain and many I would hold onto expired Epi-Pens until I used them. I had to go on disability for several years. Now, after 15 years of severe swelling episodes I am on a new medication that attenuates the chances of attacks. My life has turned around for the better, but there are many who live with different forms of angio edema and dangerous allergies — whose lives are being risked and dismissed by greedy pharmaceutical companies like Mylan.
Martin Shkreli, poster boy for grasping pharma greed, actually commented to NBC News about Mylan that “these guys are really vultures” and asked, “What drives this company’s moral compass?”
For the uninitiated, Shkreli is the fellow who bested Mylan’s 400% price increase when his company jacked up the price of a malaria-HIV drug 5,000%.
Shkreli’s shenanigans earned him the moniker “pharma bro,” but the “bro” in the Mylan case is no bro: She’s “pharma sis” Heather Bresch, now the company’s CEO.
The EpiPen pack of two in the early 2000s was $70 and mostly out of my range at the time. So I wonder how on earth are some people supposed to afford them at $500 a shot? PBS reported the experience of one “mother whose son has an extreme dairy allergy and whose insurance plan has a high deductible. The price of two pens was $1,212— more than her mortgage payment.”
Compared to other countries, Americans are being ripped off by these big pharmas daily. It’s wrong, it’s inhumane, and it needs to stop. We can begin by speaking out about our own medication experiences on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, we can blog about it, we can share the stories of others, and we can contact our Congress members — especially now in a big election year. They tend to listen a little more closely. And isn’t that just so sad, as well?