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A comment on EpiPen Price Rise Sparks Concern for Allergy Sufferers. Parent comment

Re:EpiPen Price Rise Sparks Concern for Allergy Sufferers by smu3l on Monday August 22, 2016 @10:34PM (#12340984)
The drug itself is very cheap. With an Rx you can purchase an ampule with about 3 doses for < $10.[1] You can administer it with an insulin syringe, which I don't think requires an Rx. Of course administration is a lot more tedious and requires some training.

I worked at a summer camp where we would carry 1 or 2 pens plus a bunch of ampules if we were in a wilderness situation where we couldn't get to emergency care and needed more than one dose.

[1] http://www.buyemp.com/product/epinephrine-ampule

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Re:EpiPen Price Rise Sparks Concern for Allergy Sufferers by yoohoocthulhu on Monday August 22, 2016 @11:55PM (#12341280)
The drug is cheap...because it's unpatentable (as a molecule anyway) and is old enough that any patents would be expired anyway.

The marketing of autoinjectors has some legitimate public health value, but it's also a clear business strategy to get new drug prices for an ancient drug

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