EpiPen Price Hike Put You in Shock? There's A Cheaper Alternative
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Epinephrine injectors can save the life of someone suffering from a severe allergic reaction.
But the maker of the EpiPen made headlines earlier this year when prices for the drug jumped nearly 500 percent.
It turns out there is a generic injector that costs much less.
Marcus Espiritu suffers from nut allergies. Accidently eating them could cause a severe allergic reaction. So his EpiPen is vital.
"EpiPen could like help me breathe," he said.
That's why Marcus' mom became frustrated when she heard the drug's manufacturer, Mylan, had increased the price nearly 500 percent.
"Some parents have said, 'I'm even looking at keeping an expired EpiPen,'" Mary Espiritu said.
Many believe the EpiPen is the only option, but that's not the case.
There's been generic epinephrine auto injector on the market since 2013.
The cash price? Up to $430 cheaper than the EpiPen.
It's FDA approved for the same use and contains the exact same medicine.
Pharmacists and doctors say it's as safe and effective as the EpiPen brand.
So why aren't they prescribing it?
"It's like Kleenex, we don't say facial tissue," said Dr. Ronn Berrol of Sutter Health Alta Bates. "When I think if epinephrine auto injector, the first word that comes to mind is EpiPen."
Dr. Berrol says Mylan has done an exceptional job promoting the EpiPen.
And Berrol says few realized the device had become so expensive.
"When the story broke, I think many of us were kinda shocked and appalled and even though we were complicit in it, we didn't realize that at all," he said.
Complicating the matter, there's confusion over how to write a prescription for the cheaper generic.
"There isn't an equivalent to the EpiPen device specifically," said Dr. Mohamad Jalloh of the American Pharmacists Association.
Dr. Jalloh explains that even though the medication is the same, the epinephrine auto injector is technically the generic for another brand, Adrenaclick.
So if the word EpiPen appears on the prescription, Dr. Jalloh says "legally we would have to fill it as an EpiPen unless we call a prescriber to change it."
When Mary Espiritu recently refilled Marcus prescription, his doctor did write epinephrine auto injector, so instead of the EpiPen, she got the generic.
"I will be following up with the school saying, 'We have this different version, it does work differently, you need to know how to administer it,'" she said.
Now, the primary difference is the generic has two caps instead of one. You must hold the injection for 10 seconds and the needle doesn't retract after you're done.
