Mylan CEO on EpiPen drug price controversy: "I get the outrage"

You need to watch the interview, they cover a huge amount of info. Take a few minutes to watch the bob and weave interview the CEO of Mylan achieves, it is an honorable performance.

I really don't know what to say. The Ceo of Mylan made some good points and side stepped responsibility of the absurd rise in prices.

www.cbsnews.com...
CBS News coverage of the life-saving device for allergies created public outrage and led to a congressional investigation. Last September, Mylan CEO Heather Bresch was called before Congress to explain why EpiPen’s price had soared from about $103.50 in 2009 to more than $608.61 in 2016.

Heather Bresch, CEO of Mylan said the company 'invested' 1 billion to make the epi more accessible and that is why the cost soared. Donating more than 800,000 epipens made the product prices soar? It is cheap to make, so donating them is cheap, easy good publicity that back fired into a publicity nightmare IMHO. Cheap to donate and an excuse to raise prices.

Because we realized there was an unmet need. … And so we made a conscious decision, the board, we put a business plan together to invest, to build public awareness and access,” Bresch said. “We’re now in over 70,000 schools across America. We’ve donated more than 800,000 free EpiPens… and remember that that price incorporates the entire supply chain. But it was that investment over the last eight years that would allow us to reach patients and save lives.”

Since 2008, the price has gone up a bit over 500%.

Five. Hundred. Percent.

Profit. That's all there is to it and anything else they say is a damn lie. They gave away 800,000 right? Since it only costs them about $30, in total, to make, that's $24 million they're out. Now, let's take that same number and multiply it by $300, which is what they're charging per pen - $240 million. By selling the same amount they gave away, their profit margin is....just....I'm speechless.

This is nothing but Greed

I don't mind companies making a profit. Hell, I'm all for it. But, to dangle a lifesaving drug in front of the people who need and basically say "Your money or your life" is just evil.

a reply to: DAVID64

I agree did you watch the video?

The CEO who got whopping raises by the way, is a slippery mess. She admitted nothing and blamed everything on everyone else.

Please watch the video if you want to puke.

a reply to: seasonal

I watched that [ sickening ] and chased down a couple of articles, including this one by Consumer Reports.

www.consumerreports.org...

Specifically, it's the profit-seeking strategies of two industries that get much of the blame for why Americans are experiencing price shock at the pharmacy. "Our analysis suggests that high prices for generic and brand-name drugs stem in part from a battle over profit between mammoth industries—big pharma and insurance companies—with consumers caught in the middle," the CR study reports:

Like I said...Profit. Our lives mean nothing past our ability to pay. And pay and pay and pay.

a reply to: seasonal

Its interesting that they made this investment of a billion dollars, to make the product more "accessible".

Nothing says "Not accessible, to the point where it might as well not exist, for all that most of the people who need the thing can get at it", like a price tag so large for an item so small and cheap to make.

Its dirty, rotten corporate buggery, at it again.

a reply to: DAVID64

Yep, the situation as a whole is reaching critical mass.

If our president and our representatives truly wanted to correct our healthcare, they would go after big pharma and the insurance companies.

Well, they would have to stop those two's lobbyists as well.

a reply to: chiefsmom

What about the hospitals still charging $2000 for a 30 year old test (MRI)? The whole system is a mess.

The reason things cost so much is because the hospitals/pharma charge so much.

originally posted by: seasonal
a reply to: chiefsmom

What about the hospitals still charging $2000 for a 30 year old test (MRI)? The whole system is a mess.

The reason things cost so much is because the hospitals/pharma charge so much.

And hospitals charge so much to pay for the people who never pay...

The entire healthcare system needs an overhaul. It is a massively complex problem.

She admitted that Americans subsidize global cost of drugs so other countries can have it pennies on the dollar. I heard her say,"And that's a good thing". Really? America Firsr. It is time to fix this archaic system of healthcare finance. II do know the finances of these drugs and it is a shell game. The system needs to be scrapped and rx is the first place to start.

a reply to: Edumakated

You are very right. Medical is the only industry where a loss is added to my and your bill.

Also when you pull one string and try to solve a problem, 10 more strings flop out.

a reply to: Ash614

Yes, her scheme worked out.

The goal is to make as much as fast as you can, the system has a count down timer. And it is getting close to the end game.

Ash614's statement that America pays more so the rest of the World can pay less - is exactly the reason people with various chronic ailments & associated meds - relocate out of the USA.
"More Available" - that means not only free pens, but advertising, drug rep expenses, and doctor payoffs/incentives.

Injector pens are a huge ripoff, whether epipens, insulin pens, other have-to-have meds - if the drug is available in a vial for self injection it's going to be much cheaper.

I went from an insulin pen, @ $400 charged to the insurance company, to using a syringe & a vial of insulin for $25 no prescription. Otherwise, I'd go into the Medicare "donut hole" in February, where you have to pay about 60% of retail for your drugs that are covered.

Whatever we come up with to replace ACA needs to address these problems.

Get the insurance companies out of the health care end of the business and just make them process paperwork for a fee.

Negotiate a government rate for pharmaceuticals and apply it across the board domestically.turn to the times when prescription drugs were NOT allowed to be advertised on TV!! You'd be amazed at how much doctor time is wasted with folks asking "is xyz drug right for me?". Ask your doc how often this comes up.

ganjoa
Re

If the insurance company is eliminated from care decisions, most doctors can at least reduce some staff - my former GP staffed 6 people to handle the business end of his private practice. His ENTIRE office gets free lunch every single day sponsored by a drug rep - just so they can get face time with the doctor. Do the math.

originally posted by: seasonal
a reply to: Edumakated

You are very right. Medical is the only industry where a loss is added to my and your bill.

Also when you pull one string and try to solve a problem, 10 more strings flop out.

Every business charges for their losses. The problem with healthcare is that the losses on any individual customer are so extreme.

IMHO I think the biggest issues with healthcare is that we don't have a true free market where competition and choice drive down prices. Anytime you have a system where you have a third party like insurance picking up the bill, the consumer is disconnected from the cost and there is no incentive to shop around. You know what other market operates in a similar fashion? College... which is why it cost so much. You have unlimited ability to put yourself into debt without respect to if you may be able to pay it back. As a result, colleges have no incentive to lower prices as the know the student can pay (go into debt) regardless.

One of the biggest problems I see is that insurance is not insurance, it is a health maintenance plan. Insurance is supposed to be there for emergencies. You break your arm. You get cancer. Insurance should not be paying for physicals, check ups, and every little cough. People should be going to clinics and doctors competing on price to offer these basic services.

You should be able to buy a catastrophic insurance policy on the open market that is not tied to your employer. This policy should be appropriately priced for your risk as a consumer. Every other insurance product operates this way. Homeowner's insurance, life insurance, car insurance, etc.

There will always be indigent or people who can't afford something. This is where government should step in with Medicaid/Medicare. Charity as well.

Major elective surgeries are relatively inexpensive because there is competition and you typically don't have insurance paying so the customer has an incentive to shop around. This is why LASIK, Rhinoplasty, Boob jobs, cosmetic dental, etc are all relatively cheap.

a reply to: Edumakated

The problem is treating medicine as a business first, rather than a calling.

Those who enter the profession, privately or publicly should not be doing so because the call of the mighty dollar induces them to do so. Those people, the industry could do very well without.

a reply to: seasonal
Medical is the only industry where loss is added to my and your bill????
You obviously haven't been checking you motor insurance then. Every year it goes up for what you think is no reason. Ask your insurer and they will tell you the rise is to cover uninsured drivers, young drivers (as they are a greater risk) and fraudulent claims.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: Edumakated

The problem is treating medicine as a business first, rather than a calling.

Those who enter the profession, privately or publicly should not be doing so because the call of the mighty dollar induces them to do so. Those people, the industry could do very well without.

I think most Doctors are called to medicine. There are much easier ways with higher ROI to make a lot of money than medicine. A doctor in the US has four years college. four years medical school. four years residency (which they work 80 hour weeks or more making $55k). So 12 years at a MINIMUM before they start making any real money. Surgery practictioners will have even more schooling/training.

Doctor salaries are hardly the reason for price inflation.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: Edumakated

The problem is treating medicine as a business first, rather than a calling.

Those who enter the profession, privately or publicly should not be doing so because the call of the mighty dollar induces them to do so. Those people, the industry could do very well without.

No. The industry is doing very well with them. CEOs are cancer free and have hot rides.
What more could you ask for?
Half the the public's too stupid to question a doctor or the people giving him a bonus.

What we have now is exactly what generations of trusting morons deserve.

a reply to: Edumakated

This is a service industry, not many service industries charge me for your bill.

Every business charges for their losses. The problem with healthcare is that the losses on any individual customer are so extreme.

a reply to: TrueBrit

Are you suggesting the medical industry turn into a non profit?