美国国家公共电台 NPR Discounts Aren't Enough to Halt Outrage At High EpiPen Prices

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Discounts Aren't Enough to Halt Outrage¹ At High EpiPen Prices

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

If you have a severe allergy² to nuts or bee stings, you probably know what an EpiPen is. It's a plastic tube and needle that gives a dose of epinephrine when you press it against your thigh³. It can be a lifesaver. Mylan, the company that makes it, is under increasing criticism for dramatically raising the price of EpiPens. The list price has gone up more than 500 percent in less than a decade to about $600 for two doses. NPR's Allison Kojak reports Mylan tried to defuse the controversy⁴ today by offering certain customers a discount.

ALISON KODJAK, BYLINE⁵: Mylan's offer would give customers whose insurance doesn't fully⁶ pay for the EpiPen coupons⁷ worth up to $300. But that's not good enough for Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.

RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: This step is much more a PR fix than a real remedy. What's needed is robust⁸, real action to lower the prices for everyone, not just a select few.

KODJAK: Blumenthal says the real problem is the company has a near monopoly on epinephrine injectors, so there may be violations⁹ of federal antitrust laws. So Blumenthal and several other senators are asking the Federal Trade Commission to look into it, and they're planning hearings on Capitol Hill.

BLUMENTHAL: At the end of the day, there may need to be stronger legal protections against these types of price gouging¹⁰ and profiteering at the expense of people who need a lifesaving drug where a company has a stranglehold on the market.

KODJAK: Mylan didn't respond to NPR's request for an interview today. The discount coupons may help some customers, says Aaron Carroll, a professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine. But, he says, in the end, consumers pay for the high prices.

AARON CARROLL: It may look better for me and my co-pay, but they're still charging the insurance company a huge amount of money, which of course gets passed right back to me in the form of higher premiums¹¹. So they're not, you know, selling it for cheaper.

KODJAK: Carroll says the public shaming of Mylan that's gone on this week could serve as a warning to other drug makers¹² whose prices are excessive. Alison Kodjak, NPR News, Washington.