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Recently the news outlets here have been running stories on the increasing prices of life saving drugs, like the EpiPen[^].
Here in US they are charging $600 for a pack of two. I am curious to what the rest of the world pays for EpiPens.
if (Object.DividedByZero == true) { Universe.Implode(); }
Meus ratio ex fortis machina. Simplicitatis de formae ac munus. -Foothill, 2016
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In the UK, effectively zero.
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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Forogar wrote: In the UK, effectively zero.
if (Object.DividedByZero == true) { Universe.Implode(); }
Meus ratio ex fortis machina. Simplicitatis de formae ac munus. -Foothill, 2016
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There is sometimes a nominal Rx charge.
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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Not in Wales: prescriptions are all free.
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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OriginalGriff wrote: prescriptions are all free
Only 'cause English taxes pay for them.
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And Welsh taxes.
The Welsh NHS tries to prioritise patients, rather than external company profits...hence why there aren't any car parking fees at Welsh hospitals either.
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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OriginalGriff wrote: The Welsh NHS tries to prioritise patients, rather than external company profits...hence why there aren't any car parking fees at Welsh hospitals either.
So, essentially, you might be paying more then someone else but you don't know that.  Consequently you have less money available for other services (if government's health budget is limited and you spend 10 units on one service, you have 10 units less to spend on other services).
Last but not least - trying to make a profit does not make a services more expensive. If that would be the case then we would all buy only at communist shops which would be full of high quality and cheap goods. Cause they would be "non-profit", like "more interested in feeding the hungry and world peace then profits", etc. In reality profits are a motor of innovation and improvement.
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I'd agree - except in the case of outsourcing from any government, where it tends to go to cronies of the ruling party, who are there purely for the short term profit and have no concern for the "clients".
But this is getting political, which doesn't belong in the Lounge...
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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Also, they expire every 12 months, which I think is a scam. Surely it would be effective for longer than that? 
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Nish Nishant wrote: they expire every 12 months, which I think is a scam.
Are you willing to bet your life on that.....
Just asking?
Ken
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If an expert lab can look into this and officially release a statement that it can certainly be used for say 24 months, I probably will.
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Not necessarily - epinephrine is volatile, and degrades pretty quickly: particularly when it gets too warm. The 12 months limit is probably half the actual usability under "good" storage conditions, but to be effective in the hands of all users it needs to be kept shorter for safety.
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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It's probably cheaper in the UK because we use Adrenaline! 
=========================================================
I'm an optoholic - my glass is always half full of vodka.
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Well, they don't let you refill the medicine - if they did, that'd solve this problem.
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Not really true if you include the taxes and premiums they have to pay to fund their medical system.
#SupportHeForShe
Government can give you nothing but what it takes from somebody else. A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you've got, including your freedom.-Ezra Taft Benson
You must accept 1 of 2 basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe or we are not alone. Either way, the implications are staggering!-Wernher von Braun
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Someone has to pay for it.
Jeremy Falcon
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I wonder if they make pill-shaped yachts. 
Jeremy Falcon
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That's what we pay taxes for.
This space for rent
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What a concept.
Jeremy Falcon
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Pete O'Hanlon wrote: That's what we pay taxes for.
Exactly.
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Twood be interesting to know what the NHS actually pays. We have the PBS system in Oz that is similar, the cost to the PBS is not transparent.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH
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Frankly, this sort of thing should be criminal. $300 for a single EpiPen is just ridiculous. I get that drug companies pay billions in research costs, and that they need to recoup that somehow. But the EpiPen has been around more than long enough to have paid itself off. They should be sold practically at cost now.
The FDA and FTC need to start regulating these prices. Drug companies should be required to submit all of their budget documentation for R&D, and the cost of the drug should then be calculated based upon projected market size and a standard number of years (say 5 or 10) to recoup the costs. Past that, there should be a cap on profitability, say 10-15% above material and production/distribution costs.
No-one should be getting rich from helping people...
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Kyle Moyer wrote: No-one should be getting rich from helping people...
So are you saying that only bad people should be allowed to get rich?
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