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Now that this drug problem has become an epidemic the price of the overdose treatment has increased a lot.
STATES CHRONICLE- The opioid epidemic has hit The US hard in the last year. More and more people are dying from overdoses. The price of the overdose treatment increased by more than 600% in the last 3 years.
The overdose treatment is actually a device. People can use it to inject people with the drug called naloxone. This is the substance that can reverse the effects of an overdose. The name of the device produced by Kaleo is Evzio.
This device has been on the market for more than 40 years. Naloxone is the substance that blocks the drug from reaching the brain receptors. Now that this drug problem has become an epidemic the price of the overdose treatment has increased a lot.
In less than 3 years the price of Evzio has increased from $575 to $4,500. Kaleo is a private company from Richmond, Virginia. The company also announced that they are going to come back with the competitor of the EpiPen. The Auvi-Q uses the same auto-injection technology.
The list price of the Auvi-Q is $4,500 also. Despite the fact that the list price is this big, the company decided to keep the $360 price for people without insurance. Those who have insurance pay nothing fo this device.
The company mentioned that they made the list price so big because they are focusing on their prime interest: the customers. They said that in order for people to receive the drugs without costs they need to make the list price higher.
This is not the first time this overdose treatment had concerned people. Last year the price of Evzio was $3,750. Despite the fact that there are other cheaper alternatives, Kaleo mentioned that they are not going to lower the prices of these drugs.
“When setting the ‘list’ price for products, kaléo always starts with the needs of the patient first and then engages with multiple stakeholders in the healthcare system,” Kaleo’s vice president of corporate affairs Mark Herzog said in a statement
Although most people can get this overdose treatment for free, the list price is still too big for the same substance that can be found at $300. Maybe the company will change its strategy soon.
What is your opinion about the price of this overdose antidote?
Image source: Wikipedia
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