EpiPen maker caves in to social media pressure, drops price by 50%
In a big win for people power, drugmaker Mylan has caved in to pressure across social media and announced it will create a generic version of the EpiPen.
The cheaper version will be priced at $300, 50% less than the $600 the drug recently cost after years of price hikes in the United States.
Mylan has borne the brunt of enormous backlash recently for the high price of its patented device, which delivers the precise amount of epinephrine to treat potentially fatal anaphylactic shocks in users with allergies.
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Thousands of people shared their stories of huge medical bills and their disbelief at the price of the item across Twitter and Facebook, after changes in insurance policies left them facing higher costs.
Campaigners like activist Robyn O'Brien have collated their tales and photos of their pharmacy bills online while one parent started a petition -- 'Stop the EpiPen price gouging' -- that has received 140,000 signatures.
Responding to the outrage, Mylan announced last week it would create a savings card that would cover up to $300 of the cost, but that solution offered no help to anyone without insurance or anyone in U.S. government-funded health care programs and was rejected by campaigners and parents.
On Monday, it went further and announced the new "identical" product at half the price. The company said it would be on the market within weeks.
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However, Robert Weissman from consumer rights group Public Citizen said offering a cheaper generic version alongside a branded pricier version is a "signal that something is wrong."
It's a "convoluted mechanism to avoid plain talk, admit to price gouging and just cut the price of EpiPen" he added.
Campaigners and politicians alike were not impressed with the move. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders dismissed it as a PR stunt and O'Brien pointed out that the price is still far higher than that in other countries.
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The move has not stopped U.S. lawmakers calling for an investigation into the price of the drug.
Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal said in a statement that "investigations are still vitally necessary into possible antitrust lawbreaking."
"I will press for Senate hearings as well as FTC [Federal Trade Commission] subpoenas," he added.
Topics Social Media
Tim Chester was Senior Editor, Real Time News in Los Angeles. Before that he was Deputy Editor of Mashable UK in London. Prior to joining Mashable, Tim was a Senior Web Editor at Penguin Random House, helping to relaunch the Rough Guides website and other travel brands. He was also a writer for Buzzfeed, GQ and The Sunday Times, covering everything from culture to tech and current affairs. Before that, he was Deputy Editor at NME.COM, overseeing content and development on the London-based music and entertainment site. Tim loves music and travel and has combined these two passions at festivals from Iceland to Malawi and beyond.
