$600 EpiPens, My Daughter, and My Problem With Big Pharma (Part 2)

I first wrote this article about a month and a half ago, so when I saw the stories coming out about the exorbitant cost of EpiPens in the news, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the makers of them got called out.  This is Part 2.  For Part 1, click here.

I left off in the last post talking about how I believe that something is behind the rise in food allergies among people in our population, including my very own daughter.  Let’s continue from there.

The really frustrating thing about this allergy stuff is that no one seems to know what the reason is for the steady increase in food allergy occurrences, although there are a few suspects such as the following:

• Caesarean Sections – When a baby experiences a natural birth by passing through the birth canal, he/she ingests beneficial bacteria that are in the canal wall.  These bacteria go on to populate the baby’s previously sterile gut.  A gut full of beneficial bacteria is very important for immune system development.  With Caesarean sections, however, the baby doesn’t get to receive the bacteria it would have received by passing through the birth canal, and therefore misses a crucial first opportunity at immune system development.
• Antibiotics – These have been suspected in situations when moms who are about to give birth, usually through Caesarean section, are required to take antibiotics that lower their levels of beneficial bacteria, and some amount of the antibiotic possibly passes on to the child.  To add to this discussion about antibiotics and childbirth, many point out how antibiotics are used heavily in society in general, as prescriptions for humans and animals alike.
• Vaccines – The suspicion is that some vaccines contain the oils of various nuts like peanuts and tree nuts, and when inoculated, cause the body to develop antibodies against the protein particles in the oils, setting the stage for allergic reaction.
• Nuts are everywhere – Sometimes eating too much of a particular food can cause a person to develop an allergy to that particular food, and if you read labels, you will find that many packaged foods either contain some kind of nuts, or they were made in facilities that handle nuts and could possibly have trace amounts inside.
• Ultra-sanitary society -These days, we are all about washing our hands with antibacterial soap, as well as keeping a bottle of sanitizer handy.  The thought is that this extra focus is causing us to miss crucial opportunities to be exposed to various bacteria that will help us develop healthy immune systems that don’t overreact to things.

NOTE:  By talking about the things above, I am not saying that I agree with all of them, but I’m not saying that I disagree either.  As a parent of a child with a food allergy, you learn to consider everything, because again, something is causing all of these food allergies.  Many people dismiss all of the above suggestions as quackery, but on the medical side, people don’t seem to have a clue at all.  And this is a good segue to the portion of this post where I talk about why I included “$600” in my post title.

$600

Upon preparing for a recent trip, my wife noticed that our EpiPens had expired.  Now, for the uninitiated, an EpiPen is an emergency epinephrine (adrenaline) shot that can be administered to an individual having an anaphylactic reaction for the purpose of reversing the potentially deadly effects of the reaction.  My wife called the allergist, who promptly put in a prescription for us to pick up.

I went to pick the EpiPens up (they come two per pack), and was extremely disappointed to see the total when the pharmacy tech rang up the package.  $600.34…and that was with insurance.  The tech seemed to want to apologize to me himself, as if he had done something wrong.

So what are we going to do?  Say no?  Just not buy the EpiPens as we prepare for our cross country trip?  Of course, not.  I pulled out the health savings card and made the purchase.

Why I Scratch My Head at That $600

Alright, so obviously, EpiPens are very useful, lifesaving devices.  There’s no doubt about that.

Another obvious thing, though, is that somebody somewhere is making a killing on these things.  Think about the millions of folks who have to spend up to $600 to purchase a pack of EpiPens.  You’re talking in the billions of dollars.  With this in mind, I honestly can’t help but wonder if somebody out there either knows what the cure for food allergies is and isn’t telling because the money is too good, or at least is exploiting people’s need for these lifesaving devices by jacking the price way up.  Another thing I have wondered is why there aren’t more studies that investigate the causes of food allergies, considering for example the suspected causes I listed above.

You can call me a conspiracy theorist if you want.  I call myself a concerned parent looking for answers for his child.

There’s more where all of this came from, so please look out for Part 3.  And if you identify with me at all, tell me something below!