The cost of the life-saving drug just rose by 500%. Here’s how to make sure you can still have it when you need it.
The price of EpiPens, a lifesaving injection device for people with severe or fatal allergies, has risen by 500% to $608.
Joe Raedle / Getty Images / Via Getty
"The difference between having one and not having one is life and death, says Dr. Jacqueline Eghrari-Sabet, MD, board-certified allergist at Family Allergy Care in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
In 2007, pharmaceutical giant Mylan acquired the EpiPen, the most widely prescribed epinephrine auto-injector on the market.
USA Today reports that in 2009, you could get a two-pack EpiPen carton for under $100, but in 2013 the price started rising dramatically — reaching $608.61 in May 2016. "We know that $274 of that goes back to Mylan, so the other $330 of the patient's money goes elsewhere," says Eghrari-Sabet. There's less than $1 worth of epinephrine in each dose.
With one swift jab into your thigh, the EpiPen injects a 0.3 mg dose (or .15 mg in EpiPen Jr. for children under 66 pounds) of epinephrine into your body, which slows down or stops anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction.
Anaphylaxis symptoms include difficulty breathing and swallowing, wheezing, rapid heart rate, swelling, low blood pressure, and loss of consciousness. It's most often caused from an allergy to food, medications, insect bites, or latex.
Anaphylaxis requires immediate medical treatment at the ER, says Eghrari-Sabet, so the EpiPen really just buys you time until you can get to the hospital.
"You can't buy single EpiPens, it always comes as a pack with two auto-injectors because some people require a second dose within 15 to 30 minutes," says Eghrari-Sabet.
Jim Sergent, USA TODAY / Rx Savings Solutions / Via usatoday.com
Many insurance companies won't cover the new cost, forcing patients to pay out of pocket for EpiPens.
Cyano66 / Getty Images / Via thinkstockphotos.com
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