In 2004 a pack of two EpiPens, life-saving products used to halt severe allergic reactions, cost $100. Now, two pens list for upwards of $600 — a 450 percent price increase for the same injector to deliver the same $1 dose of epinephrine it did 12 years ago.
If you find this increase troubling, you are not alone. Earlier this week, Senator Chuck Grassley(R-Iowa) sent a letter to the CEO of Mylan Laboratories, EpiPen's manufacturer, asking for information on its pricing strategy. Today, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) called Mylan's pricing “outrageous” in a letter to the Federal Trade Commission.
But most businesses have their prices held in check by competitors. And here Sens. Klobuchar and Grassley might be missing the forest for the trees: Rather than focusing on the price tag, we should be asking why EpiPens face no real market competition.
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