Kalos opioid overdose drug went from $690 to $4,500and senators want answers

[Sgent]

Source: Ars Technica

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and thirty of his colleagues sent a letter to Kaléo Pharmaceuticals Wednesday to question the company's price hike of its opioid-overdose-reversing device, Evzio.

As Ars has reported before, Evzio’s price rose dramatically over a short period of time—going from $690 in 2014 to $4,500 currently, according to the letter. Evzio is an easy-to-use auto-injector that delivers a dose of naloxone, a generic drug that blocks and reverses deadly opioid overdoses.

Amid the price increases, the country has been gripped by an epidemic of opioid addiction and overdoses. The CDC now estimates that 91 people die every day from an opioid overdose, and some hard-hit areas have even run out of morgue space.

Policymakers and health officials have been scrambling to get out ahead of the problem. Efforts include urging doctors to reduce opioid prescriptions, working on better addiction treatments and opioid alternatives, and arming everyone from first responders to grocery stores with naloxone. Amid those efforts, “this startling price hike is very concerning,” the senators wrote in their letter (PDF).



Read more: https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/02/kaleos-opioid-overdose-drug-went-from-690-to-4500-and-senators-want-answers/?comments=1

[mucifer]

1. all bets are off in this no regulation government that is spiraling into hell.

[not fooled]

2. Ooohhh they want answers

THAT'LL really put the fear of dog into Kalo...



Not that it isn't noble of Leahy et al. to try.

[MattP]

3. And Tom Price probably bought stock in it before they jacked the price

[elehhhhna]

4. It's time to nationalize these motherfuckers

[haele]

5. Husband was given opiods for severe Psoriatic Arthirits and Fibromyalgia.

First time he tried to just ease down on the pain killers; and "live with" constant stage 7 pain (he had a large kidney stone, so he knew what a high 9 pain level was...) he got so dizzy and dreadfully sick he couldn't leave bed, and we had to take him to the ER before he got a stroke. His pain doctor - who had prescribed all that crap - later told him he had to take six months or so to "ease down" instead of just cutting his dosage in half, or he'd continue to get messed up.
He was cutting down because the amount he had been prescribed so he would supposedly be "able to function at a marginal chronic pain level" made him unable to function normally. He wasn't even able to drive far enough to drop me off at the trolley to get to work - because I was supposed to be at work before the grand-kid's school morning daycare was open, and he had to get her there and pick her up as she's living with us most of the time.

So after he stabilized two weeks later, we explored Medical Marijuana as an alternative. A month after we started with just two mini-muffins (1 mini-muffin is 1 oz of batter) worth of 5-1 CBD oil, he was off all opiods with no dizziness and sickness. Now, he's managing his pain levels enough that between BC powders and an occasional (about 3x a week) mini muffin when he has a flair up. No problems driving, and he's able to ditch his cane if he's only planning to have to stand/walk for 15 minutes without being able to sit, instead of having to use his cane even in the house because he couldn't stand/walk for more than a minute without his back or hips giving out.

The only downside was that his pain doctor dropped him, because ingested Medical MJ is not completely "controllable", even though I figured out a way to control within at least one sigma the dosage of CBD/THC per muffin - so long as I have a reputable source who is honest about the strain used and in the habit of doing a "sample" before processing the harvest.

On edit - if they ever work out a process to standardize MMJ for dosage purposes, I'd like to see it available as an FX for HSA or tax deduction purposes. We can afford the $60 a month for a quart jar of medical cannabis/coconut oil, but it would sure be nice to be able to claim it on our taxes as a medical expenditure.

Haele

[DK504]

8. I hope you husband is feeling better, this is very hard to

sit next to someone you love and watch them in pain. I have known so many on Medical MJ they like your husband were able to drop 99% of pain meds.

This price hike comes right after the Congress refused to put price ceilings on drug prices. Topped with the ban from buying RX's from Canada Americans are going to lose their homes because of drug prices.

This is infuriating.

Keep eating!

[jumptheshadow]

10. The same thing happened to my wife

Medical MJ has reduced her need for opioids. In fact, we have to monitor her withdrawal very carefully.

[kimbutgar]

6. Ironic that those states with high opioids overdoses are all red states that went for chump

[KittyWampus]

7. Was just going to post that. Kentucky is one of worst states as is Alabama.

[Bengus81]

9. Doubt an Repub Senators need or even want an answer...

They always claim the marketplace and competition will keep prices down. Right..............

[hatrack]

11. And guess who didn't sign? Manchin . . .

Shocking, huh?

Probably didn't want to check too closely on pharma price-gouging, since that's what his fucking daughter is facing investigation for.

What a coincidence!

[dalton99a]

16. +1

[Sunlei]

12. emergency responder said, sometimes takes 2 or 3 doses of 'pre-loaded' naloxone to save someone.

[jmowreader]

13. Isn't bulk naloxone something like fifty bucks a gallon?

And can't you get empty autoinjectors for a couple bucks apiece? I say this every time someone Shkrelis a drug, but why the hell can't we get the Army to make shit like this at Fort Sam Houston?

[Vinca]

14. I was just reading about 3 deaths from overdoses in Brattleboro, Vt.

They happened on Monday. At least one person was alive when they found her, but she died later. It's obscene to raise the price of a life-saving drug like that. I doubt the local Rescue squad can afford that price.

[starshine00]

15. it seems they are specifically targeting the life and death drugs, like the epipen

'whatever the market will bear' is their motto, because these people believe 'the market' a real natural phenomenon, like the weather, or the ocean, or something. They are depraved.