EpiPen example of how drug firms stick it to the public

The soaring cost of EpiPens, used by those allergic to bee stings, peanuts and some medicines, capsulizes the greed of pharmaceutical companies capitalizing on the desperation of America’s afflicted.

First synthesized in 1904, epinephrine, aka adrenaline, is now a dirt cheap generic. If your doctor prescribed it, you could buy a pre-loaded syringe of epinephrine for under $20.

But the more foolproof delivery device — the pen in EpiPen — was patented in 1977, meaning that Mylan, the U.S. marketer, and Pfizer, the manufacturer, have a license to gouge.

EpiPens used to be cheap — just $35.59 wholesale in 1986. Now it’s $360 to $435 retail. In Canada it’s $94.

The delivery system was developed on the taxpayers’ dime by military/NASA engineer Sheldon Kaplan (who never got a penny in royalties) to inject atropine to counter battlefield nerve gas. Minor modifications suited it to epinephrine.

With little or no research and development costs, EpiPen brought Mylan $640 million in 2012, The New York Times reported.

This is the company founded by the late Mike Pushkar, whose name is on West Virginia University’s football stadium in Morgantown because he donated $20 million to the athletic department, from money gouged from desperate patients.

To read In These Times senior editor Terry Allen’s story, click on http://billmoyers.com/2014/08/05/sticker-shock-how-big-pharma-gauges-the-american-public/