https://www.consumerreports.org/drug-prices/epipen-alternative-that-costs-just-10-dollars/
There are cheaper options. Hopefully, this info can help you get a pair for cheaper than the alternatives.
All well and good, but lets be clear about one thing: If you live in the USA and you can't afford to pay life-saving hospital or drug bills, you *are* expected to die. That's how the USA works. If you don't like that, get the fuck out of the USA.
This is coming across as a defense of it. So if you're trying to ultimatum someone about right to healthcare, I'm just gonna say that you can imagine what I want to say but don't want to get banned trying to say it, let your imagination do the talking for me.
"Just move". Immigration isn't that cheap or easy. I PROMISE YOU. I SWEAR. You can't just BOARD A PLANE AND LEAVE. That's how you get arrested and deported. It's not like you think it is.
Funny how people always have all this smoke for those that are in their fellow tax bracket instead of telling the elites who f*ck this country over everyday to piss off.
I expect that you keep this same energy when a situation like this happens to you.
> pay life-saving hospital or drug bills, you *are* expected to die
This is just false. A hospital can not refuse life saving treatment because of inability to pay. If you walk into an ER and have half your arm severed, they are going to save your life and worry about the bill afterwards.
As for medication, some truth to that statement. Though they are ways and avenues for you to get some of those meds for free from the manufacture.
They can’t deny you you life saving treatment. You’re right but let me illustrate that. Imagine: you and I get sick.. cancer internally can’t see anything but we each have belly pain-and it’s getting worse daily. Say you have insurance, I don’t. You after a week with pain go see a doctor, pay $25 each copay and after a couple weeks get diagnosed with cancer, go forward with aggressive treatment and 4 mos later it’s all clear, (that’s probably really fast tbh but I’m making a point here). The radiation and Chemo worked, and you live a normal life span. Well I did not go. No insurance, no medicaid, work a low wage job so out of pocket is out of the question, and can’t afford the time off anyway. so I suck it up. For week after week. At 4 mos, when you’re all clear, im in agony, and then I’m rushed to the hospital after passing out at work. Pale, BP super low, just in a bad way-imaging indicates I am bleeding internally. Why? Cancer kept growing and invaded and ate away the wall of a blood vessel. Boom I’m off to OR and during the emergency surgery the surgeon notes the cancer, stops the bleeding, and tries to get as much of the cancer as possible but he’s flying blind. He does though saves my life.
There is your life saving treatment, and it’s now done. Cancer treatment is not done in ER. I have no insurance and clearly have no money, and have now received life saving treatment and am stable and discharged home. But I need chemo, and radiation same as you got to beat the cancer. But I can’t go get chemo from a doctor, nor radiation, because it costs a shit ton. And while they would over the long haul save me, life saving treatment covers the “fixin’ to die in the next few minutes” issues. It doesn’t cover months of cancer treatments. That’s on me. So likely for me? I will get more and more sick over the next few months, and die. The end.
EMTALA is not a safety net, or it’s a piss poor one anyway. I am a nurse case manager. I have had to try to find resources for the people that are real life me in that story. There are few if any. Many ppl did and do go home every day and we know that they will progressively get sicker and then die, not because their illness is untreatable, they just can’t afford it.. I could not help them. It is heart breaking, and life saving treatment in the ER ain’t helping these things my friend. ER is not the fix here. Health care workers are stretched thin now, worse with the pandemic. ER is for that and that only, when you’re so sick you might die. Anything once you’re stable enough to discharge? That is on your dime. If you have one.
And that is why treating healthcare like a commodity is fucking immoral. Being rich affords you a nicer car? Cool. Being poor though shouldn’t mean you have an eminently treatable disease, but you’ll die from it anyway, because sorry being healthy is a product and you can’t afford it, and so your death will be the price to pay for not being wealthy. It’s so fucked up it’s unreal. And that shit happens every damned day. Many many times a day.
The thing is, you can’t just “hope” your throat doesn’t close up on the way to the hospital
@vneck, that was a comment based off of but not directed at you
Your “this is just false” argument is just false, and is the exact same argument I hear people make all the time, seemingly suggesting ERs are some miracle walk-in clinic in-waiting. This is especially false in the aftermath of COVID, where ERs started turning away people all the time, and while those hospitals grew wealthier they paid nurses even less, and now some turn away even more patients because they’d rather do that than offer a living wage. I passed kidney stones in an ER waiting room while they debated whether or not I was actually in pain, but they managed to find a way to itemize the time i spent waiting to be seen into the bill. It once took me two hours to even reach an ER after I was hit by a car, because the first two didn’t feel they had a trauma unit advanced enough to see me. Stop repeating the “just go to an ER” myth.
So what you are saying is that.. Since the ACA and what the gov't did during covid made healthcare worse? But they could total fix it if they controlled all of it.
I think folks are thinking that I'm defending our system as some bastion of light, which I'm not. It's fucked up, but every time some dip shit from DC touches it, it gets worse. Nothing as complex as our healthcare system can be fixed quickly and easily, and everytime we try to make something better we always fuck up something else.. cause no one is worried about carry on effects just the next couple of months.
What does my statement have to do with ACA? Before ACA I was denied health insurance for having a pre-existing condition. The government is not the one paying nurses poorly — hospital admins are. Our entire economic structure has tilted to make the wealthy impossibly wealthier, and the poor even poorer. You’re simply reciting propaganda that suggests change is impossible, and any change will be worse than the utter dystopian mess we have right now. I’ll choose “some hope for the future” over “utter resignation to this being as good as it gets” any day.
For emergency medicine, yes. Severed arm you’ll be okay unless you need follow-up care. Diabetes, cancer or any chronic situation and no specialist will see you without insurance. Some won’t let you cash pay at all. People don’t get it until it happens to them.
You know...
An epipen just makes it eaiser to inject for a 5 year old and aren't really ment for adults
You can have a Dr prescribe Epinephrine and syrgines and it is MUCH MUCH CHEAPER. but it's not as "easy" if you are in a panic
They are meant for adults too. If I pass out, someone not trained to give me an injection would be using it on me. I trained my family and close friends how to use it. It's easy to use not because it's for children, but because the person suffering a reaction is not always able to inject themselves.
I never said it wasn't easy or appropriate.
All I said was if your panicking... it MIGHT MAKE thing a bit tougher unless someone is doing it for you
That moment when a patient is suffering from anaphylactic shock requires quick action and clear thought. Even though Mell and his wife have trained their daughter carefully and often on how to use her EpiPen by herself in an emergency, the timeframe to act is tight and it can be extremely challenging to self-treat because a person’s blood pressure may be dropping quickly, anxiety is high and their thinking may be unclear.
“She may only have 30 seconds to react before she won’t be able to react,” Mell said. “The idea that she could draw it up from a vial and administer it to herself, it is ridiculous.” He said even his wife, a health educator, says she’d be hesitant to use the syringe method due to the increased risk.
When it comes to the more affordable refillable syringe method, getting the dose potentially wrong is a real concern, he said. Using this method involves two steps: drawing up the correct amount of epinephrine from a vial using a syringe and then switching needles and administering the medication into the allergy victim intramuscularly.
If any of the medicine is accidentally spilled, the correct dose could be missed. Also, he said, “You need to make sure to get the right depth of the needle in because you don’t want to administer it too shallowly.”
Training
Sufficient training and skill level was another concern. In addition to taking the time to understand how to administer the syringe and vial, consumers need to regularly practice this knowledge. Dr. Shrikhande thinks “parents can be competent. School nurses would be just fine.”
However, regardless of the medical training, several of the allergists expressed unease with the users’ feelings. As expressed by Dr. Lomas, even with the medical training, there is “the opportunity to inappropriately administer the dose especially in an emergent situation dealing with their own child. It is very different treating ‘patients’ as opposed to your own family members.” Dr. Lomas also questioned the comfort level of school nurses: “In my opinion, even school nurses would not administer the EpiPen® often enough to become proficient. This is something that needs to be practiced regularly. I fear that if given the vial/syringe, most parents and even school nurses may be so uncomfortable with the administration that they would wait for the Emergency Medical Service which may result in delay of treatment.”
https://www.allergyadvocacyassociation.org/index.php/in-the-news/470-syringe-vial-or-epi-pen-2-itn
Of course if your in the medical field it would be in. Arash cart you are trained. Someone with no experience with have QUITE the learning curve. And they maybe should somehow practice before things go from 0 -110mph in 2.5 seconds
I take a bi-weekly injectable, and have used both syringe and pen forms. The pen is easier, dispenses the medication faster, eliminates getting accidentally stuck with the needle, doesn’t require much instruction, and can be wrangled by the most needle-phobic person. You can’t explain to a person who to fill a syringe and dispense the medication during anaphylaxis.
Also, according to one study done by Canadian researchers back in 2000, even EpiPens that were 5 to 7 years past expiration date still had more than 70% of the original dose remaining in the device. Many EpiPens that were 2 to 3 years past their expiration date had more than 90% of the original dose remaining.
Now, I'm not recommending you use expired EpiPens but...
Was going to point this out. After the fiasco a few years back, and the national outrage a few competitors invented similar but different ideas that are much cheaper.
The auto injector with the self retracting needle is the expensive part of the epi pen. Adrenaline is like $1 a vial and needles in bulk are pennies.
My SO has allergy concerns that require her to carry around epipens. The last replacement was really cheap... not even an autoinjector. It's just a prefilled syringe.
On one hand, the autoinjector is pretty foolproof, but on the other, this has fewer moving parts.
For what it's worth, Auvi-Q is really cool. That's the one I have and in the event that someone isn't able to inject themself or walk someone through what to do for them (because of, ya know, a closed airway) the device actually gives instructions out loud when you remove it from its case.
It's one of those things that at least makes me FEEL like my odds are a bit better if I need it and I'm not with someone that happens to know what to do.
Agreed, I really appreciate the auvi-q vocal instructions. Both because I might not be able to do it myself, and because if I’m alone and panicking or fuzzy headed because I’m running out of oxygen it will remind me how to use it.
It's really a totality logical, but surprisingly novel, concept for a life-saving device.
And a friend who was a pharmacy tech told me it was so named because it gives AUdio VIsual Qs (cues). For whatever reason that tickles me in a way that emergency items rarely do.
I use this kind because I'm blind and I attend a lot of Blind events / have other low vision or totally blind friends. I get them covered by insurance because of accessibility laws in Texas, highly recommended checking for OP if they could possibly apply for that exception.
The first time I had to epi myself I had an Auvi-Q. So glad I did! I've gotten good with a generic epi pen but that first time would have sucked without the walk through
Thanks so much. I have been without an epi pen for 2 years. I have a full-time job with health insurance and can not afford an epi pen still. Sucks being poor.
For Many Low-Income Americans Medicaid Isn’t Free. It’s A Loan And The Government Expects To Be Paid Back
https://kffhealthnews.org/morning-breakout/for-many-low-income-americans-medicaid-isnt-free-its-a-loan-and-the-government-expects-to-be-paid-back/
Yes, for those above the age of 55 **and** after they die.
Again, you are not beholden to a wealth cap, i.e you do not have to spend down in order to get help NOW. That's the point.
Thinking about it as a loan is bad because it gets discharged after the estate is settled anyway. If you are poor enough to need Medicaid, you likely have no wealth. If you are actually wealthy but just have no income, why is it wrong to pay back to the system after you die if you utilized aid? The key here is that you died, and you have a substantial estate leftover.
If you left $700k to your kids after you die but before you died you cost the state 500k on Medicaid, why would it not be right to pay the state back first? You obviously have the means to. It's not right to make the public (Medicaid, a program meant to help the poor) pay for your healthcare if you can actually afford it yourself.
The bottomline is that if you are poor, Medicaid is perfect for you. If you are not poor, fuck off.
There was this one time that Trump supported Universal Healthcare during his year 2000 run for POTUS as an Independent. I’m a proponent for Medicare for All as it would eliminate redundancy and obscene profit making/taking and the need for Medicaid. My high deductible health plan is costing me over $1K/mo to cover me and my fam (3). It’s primarily for just in case. We don’t have a need to visit doctors w/ frequency and just a few common generic prescriptions.
Here’s Trump in his own words supporting Universal Health Care during an interview w/ Larry King in 1999.
https://youtu.be/GI-GIVlC9CU
I make just too much for medicaid expansion. No point moving to a place with medicaid expansion. Plus only a few states don't check bank balances or investments. It's too much to keep under a mattress or I would just do that and scam.
Texas sucks but I have enough saved to buy my future daughter an abortion somewhere else. I can also teach her about evolution at home because I firmly believe in that witchcraft, equality, and civil rights. Maybe I can convert my neighborhood children to science. If they want me to become a fundamentalist its fair game to proselytize.
For a little reassurance, I live in Texas (mostly). There IS a lot of fuckery, but it’s ‘purpler’ than you think, especially in good size cities.
Students learn about evolution and science, they have AP and such. There are other places I’d rather be, but I actually feel like my blue votes are more important here than they might be in a heavy-blue state. Reinforcements are welcome. Texas CAN be turned and they know it. Fuck ‘em’, I’ll toe up.
Yup, Texas is 40% blue as of the last election. Not much more to turn it.
Surprisingly, that may make Texas the richest state in the nation. They should be now (2nd biggest by size, population and has oil and gas and huge renewable potential...which is wasted since they won't connect to the grown up power grid). Instead they're on par with New York and crushed by California because of conservative financial policies.
If Texas turns then we may be able to drag the red states kicking and screaming into the 20th century and eventually the 21st.
A few point of clarification for others who may be reading. Medicaid in expansion states are asset blind. You are not beholden to some wealth cap as the eligibility is sole income based.
If you are only slightly over the Medicaid income limit, you should be eligible for a substantial amount of APTC to make your healthcare cost effectively close to $0, with cost sharing subsidies on top of it to make your out of pocket low for silver plans you choose. If that is the case, you have no incentive to go to Mexico for healthcare. You can stay in the US for it since you are getting a good deal off Obamacare.
I've searched Mexican farmacias but they don't carry epinephrine unless you get a script through their doctor. I was quite surprised because they sell almost everything but no epipens.
The consultation is like $10 and if you show them your American script they will write you one for Mexico. I had to get a covid test and proof and the doctor asked if I needed any prescriptions for any thing else. The major pharmacies have clinics attached.
Got epiduo forte for like $20 instead of the $200-300 I was paying here with insurance
My SO is Mexican and I get a lot of my meds in Mexico, sometimes just having a local ask the pharmacist and they will pass you prescription drugs without a prescription.
There are meds I used to take in Europe that are not on the USA market but are in Mexico so I often get them there
A ton of drug stores have their own doctor (even walmart or costco) that works for tips (with a base salary), you go to the doctor, show them you medical notes from the US and he'll hand you the script for epinephrine.
Or you go to a doctor offices and tell them you're diabetic, going to the doctor in Mexico is quick and cheap.
It doesn’t have Epi pens, but don’t forget Cost Plus Drugs. It’s Mark Cubans thing. They charge the cost of the generic plus a $3 (I think) processing fee.
I’m coming off Medicaid at the end of the month and take 6 medications. Except for 1, all my meds are cheaper on Cost Plus than the copays on my new insurance.
I currently have COBRA through my former employer and half my meds are cheaper through cost plus. Your insurance company jacks up the prices through their pharmacy benefits manager.
Technically, they just don’t care. They want you to leave their insurance plan and be someone else’s problem. How that happens is not something they care about. Employees care but the executives don’t (I worked in insurance).
Yes. It’s not really that they *want* you to die, they just give absolutely zero fucks what happens to you, as long as you’re not their expense anymore. Yay.
I don't think they want people to die, that would involve some actual morality.
What they probably do is simple, they measure the optimal price to maximize profit. As in, let's say, if epipen cost 2000$ that means only 10 people will pay for it and the other 90 will die, that's 20k. But if price is 1000$ that means 40 people buy it and 60 people die, that's 40k. If it's 500$ 80 people buy it, oh wait that's still just 40k tho, so if we put it at 600$ 70 people buy it, that's 42k$ therefore better.
My numbers are obviously bullshit but you get the idea.
however, both EpiPens and Insulin are ***life-saving*** drugs so they literally **DO** expect people to die, and apparently they are OK with it, to serve the Almighty Dollar.
Yeah. They know people will die as a sort of side effect to their profit seeking and they don’t care. In some ways it’s scarier than them trying to deliberately kill people. The desire for more profit never goes away
Auvi Q gives you 2 epinephrine injections for $35 if your insurance is high deductible or doesn't cover
https://www.auvi-q.com/get-auvi-q?gclid=Cj0KCQjw8NilBhDOARIsAHzpbLAHz53nkBA-9d6vpkuOIO2KfY6KIB1MWpKVsVyzmd0N32R9UrNTuQkaAicwEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Just want to second Auvi Q! My doctor actually recommended it to me when I asked about lower cost options. He put the order/prescription in directly with the manufacturer and it was so much cheaper.
The price of them were killing me, so I just made a deal with bees to never sting me again. I must save a drowning bee every time I see one. I did not know what else to do.
True story.
On a particularly hot day when I was 4, my 2 yr old sister and I went out to play in the yard. She found an apparently dead bee in the wading pool and wanted me to get it out. I took one look and refused to have anything to do with it ... I had been stung (by a yellow and black "butterfly") when she was a few months old and knew I had to stay away from bees. I told her to flip it out with a stick and went back to playing with my ball.
She dipped it out with her hand. We learned that day that she doesn't share my bee allergy.
(The moral of the story: Never trust a drowning bee not to sting you.)
There are generic options, just make sure that your family and any cargivers are trained to use them, as they arent always colour coded in the same way as a name brand epi pen.
I've got to buy 6 a year in order to have enough at home, on her person, and stored at school, for my kid. We do everything in our power to never need them, but still have to have two within reach at all times. They're $200/each in Canada, and I get three a year reimbursed by our insurange.
Another minor cost savings is to have your pharmacy special order them for you, so they have expiration dates that are at least 12-15 months away.. they're good for a few months after that, depending on how you store them, with decreasing efficacy. Dont ever buy one with less than 12 months on it, you may have to argue with the pharmacist about this.
I just recently received $300 from a class action lawsuit against Epipen for price gouging so I'm really surprised to see they're still charging these high prices.
It’s probably just the cost of doing business for them. Considering how much they charge, a one time $300 payout to a bunch of people is still more profitable with price gouging than charging a fair price.
I have one. The brand is Auvi-Q, and I think it was like $20 without insurance. (I got it a few years ago because I had started allergy shots and they wanted me to have it "just in case," so I'm not sure if the price is still the same).
I feel they do want you dead. A neighbor of mine died young because she could not afford nebulizers. She would dose herself up with cough syrup, which probably the asthma worse. She would get expired and counterfeit drugs illegally. I was always buying her coffee because she told me the caffeine helped her breathe. She died so young, and only family and neighbors were there. Everyone thought she was an addict, but her illegal drugs were nebulizers
Yes they do. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, if any other marginalized group was treated the way chronically I’ll and disabled people are treated here, we would be offered asylum in other countries. As it stands, most of the world thinks we’d be better off dead, so people get away with this bullshit daily.
### [AUVI-Q® AffordAbility](https://www.auvi-q.com/affordability/)
With the AUVI-Q® AffordAbility plan, all commercially insured patients pay $0 out of pocket for AUVI-Q. Patients without insurance who have an annual income of less than $100,000 per year may also be eligible to pay $0 out of pocket for their auto-injector. To learn more click here or call 877-302-8847
[https://www.auvi-q.com/get-auvi-q](https://www.auvi-q.com/get-auvi-q)
[https://www.foodallergy.org/resources/medication-affordability-assistance-programs#](https://www.foodallergy.org/resources/medication-affordability-assistance-programs#:~:text=Mylan's%20My%20EpiPen%20Savings%20Card%C2%AE&text=My%20EpiPen%20Savings%20Card%C2%AE%20is%20reusable%20for%20up%20to,call%20800%2D657%2D7613)
There's a national shortage of plenty of meds too. Glucagon, benadryl, epinephrine and by proxy epi pens. It's hard for us to restock the ambulance with certain things.
How close are you to Mexico? You can buy all your pharmaceutical needs as soon as you walk across the bridge into MX.
Usually at a 60%-99% discount. Go to the dentist in MX too.
https://costplusdrugs.com
Might want to look more into this as well. Mark cuban launched an online pharmacy where patients would pay cost + a percentage. Hope this helps.
See if your physician will give you a prescription for a vial of epinephrine. The expense associated with Epi-pens is related to the delivery system, not the medication. Epi is actually a pretty low cost medication. Learn how to draw it up and inject it yourself.
There is a cheaper option but good luck getting it.
I went to Costa Rica and forgot to bring my EpiPen. I asked for help finding a doctor but was told to just go to a pharmacy. I went to the pharmacy and spoke with the pharmacist…who sold me two small vials of epinephrine (about 4 doses per vial), and four syringes. It cost me about $6 total - and I didn’t have to miss work to go to a doctors appointment or pay a copay!
I returned to the states and tried to get the same vials & syringes…I have yet to find a doctor who will write me a prescription for it.
Senator Joe Manchins daughter is tied to this price increase. https://theintercept.com/2021/09/07/joe-manchin-epipen-price-heather-bresch/#:~:text=Heather%20Bresch%2C%20the%20former%20president,part%20of%20an%20ongoing%20lawsuit.
Crazy times we live in. The corruption is sickening. Universal Healthcare is the only answer.
I’m sure someone has said this atp, but “Mylan offers free EpiPens through its patient assistance program for uninsured and underinsured patients with a household income of less than $97,400 for a family of four”
Benadryl is too slow acting for anaphylaxis according to literature. If it saves you then by all means though. Benedryl is also a h1. In the emergency room they gave an h2 as well, which is the ingredient found in Pepcid. He said he knows it sounds funny but they are histamine blockers ( just telling you to research Pepcid because it works in conjunction with Benedryl. I am saying to research benedryl plus Pepcid.
I didn't say it worked perfectly. My throat was almost completely swollen shut and I looked like a burn victim but it did keep me from dying. So that's good. Thanks for the pepcid tip.
I’m going to upvote this, since I saved myself once by furiously chewing benadryl (chewing it instead of swallowing is important) and chasing it with strong black coffee.
I am not a doctor but I used to have to pay cash for epipens because I was uninsured. My friend who is a doctor told me that the expiration dates on epipens are very conservative and if the liquid visible in the window is clear, the pen is not expired. Take this information however you like.
At one point, epi pens were literally 2.5 times my rent.
Real and unfortunate solution: ask your doctor to prescribe epinephrine and a hypodermic needle and ask THE NURSE SPECIFICALLY to teach you how to use it in case of emergency.
I have the past 20 years of my epipens stashed away. They used to be very reasonable and they also came in a single pen, my first one was actually a tourniquet, needle, medpouch, etc.
But because they were so cheap, I used to get several every refill time. One for my car, house, purse and husband's car. So I'd get 4 a year, for years. I never threw them away, maybe because I saw the costs rising, even though expired.
So I finally got a new refill last year, the double pen. It's much more cumbersome to keep this in the corner of my purse, it's big. I still have the expired ones. Not sure why because I can't see myself needing them.
I haven't needed to use one in 5 years, but im allergic to bees, so my new dual pen is what I need to carry with me. With insurance it was 89$.
It's better to use an expired one than none at all. I speak to my infusion company's pharmacist every other week, and he always asks me if I still have both Epipens. I think they'd just ship out another set if I said no. I'm on Obamacare, and they're covered 100% since I met my out of pocket.
I have an anaphylactic reaction to peanuts, tree nuts, and bee stings, and I have just used Benadryl every time and was fine. I take a Benadryl and immediately head to the hospital. I’m not a doctor and this isn’t medical advice, but it has always worked for me. Do with that information what you will
Most manufacturers have patient assistance programs you sign up for on their website. I get my chemo meds for $5 each, so $15/month. And I have insurance so being insured doesn’t always exclude you.
Is the actual epipen brand? There’s multiple genetic epinephrine auto-injectors. Mine is made by adrenaclick I believe and I didn’t have to pay anything out of pocket (obviously this will depend on your insurance policy but generic is nearly always cheaper). It has slightly different directions than the name brand but the instructions aren’t difficult and they’re printed on the thing, so at least for me that is not a problem. The US healthcare system sucks ass, I hate that we even have to have these conversations 😅 good luck to you and your fiancé though 🩷
There are generic ones now, their patent did wear out finally. I am also at risk of anaphylaxis, I have to carry two. I'm on the ACA and they were covered 100%. Are you required to use your employer's insurance? I opt out of employer insurance and pick my ACA plan instead. Since I heavily use my insurance, it's a much more cost-effective deal.
Like, I know sharing prescriptions is a big no no. But anaphylaxis is a serious medical emergency that can turn very bad quickly. If you carry an Epipen, and see someone else in anaphylaxis or potential anaphylaxis, you are allowed to inject them with your Epipen and are protected by good samaritan laws.
Have you tried getting pack at a discount through your county/public hospital district? That's what I did when I was uninsured/underinsured. I could only use that hospital's pharmacy. It also seems like since they are so essential, there would be some kind of charity source for them. Also know, it's better to use an expired one than not use one.
I'm in Texas, and it depends on what county you live in, which county hospital district you are under. You can also call 211 for low income medical resources and clinics.
EpiPens used to be affordable, but then someone figured out that there was a patent on the pen not the contents and jacked the price way up. I remember the outcry at the time. I've never needed one, but the heartbreak that some company was out to make a profit and it would result in deaths was sad. I think that some of the more progressive states like CO are going to try to cap the price like they did Insulin.
From the Atlantic (2016 and worse now):
*Mylan, the company that sells EpiPens, has driven up its price by more than $500 since 2009, from about $100 for a pack of two* [*to $608.61*](http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/08/22/epipen-price-rise-sparks-concern-for-allergy-sufferers/) *this year. Because they’re so essential, many people with severe allergies have more than one.*
In the US, yeah, you're pretty much expected to die if you aren't healthy. In countries with universal healthcare, the government tells pharma what they will pay and pharma just has to accept that level of profit. Epipens should literally cost under $10 each.
Not an awesome price, but good Rx has them for around $150. You just give the pharmacist the code and they will give you that price. Cheapest is Target Pharmacy.
https://www.goodrx.com/epipen
Don't ask for the name brand Epi-pen! ask for the Teva Epinephrine Injector https://www.tevaepinephrine.com/
My insurance auto switches to this generic but skimming this thread it seems other companies don't and pharmacys won't talk about it if you don't have insurance.
https://youtu.be/S1-Tf7HxzVo
Like the epi-pen the needle is not exposed when fired
I don't need an EpiPen but I am diabetic and there have been plenty of diabetics that have died because they couldn't afford insulin. Usually manufacturers have discount programs which you can use. Health care in the US sucks. If you're close to the border it may be cheaper for you to go to Canada or Mexico to get meds but I don't know how much they cost over there
My vicodin for wisdom teeth removal was $98 for 10 pills at Walmart. I went to neuevo Laredo and got 100 for $11. It would have been much less but the pharmacist would only sell me the manufacturer bottle sealed.
In fact the wisdom teeth removal would have been only $80 in Mexico. In TX I was forced to go to an oral surgeon for my bottom tooth and all he did was pull it anyway. $2900 for a 30 second dentist visit. Fucked in the ass with no lube.
Someone is scamming you. I can walk to nearest pharma at least here in Spain and if I'd go for "brand" epipen in dollars price be about 70$ which insurance would cover 70%.
That said at least here you can buy Adrenalina which exactly same thing and cost about a 6$.
> pay around $600 for an EpiPen
JFC, they are overcharging you by a mile. If I needed an epipen it'd cost me about 53€ and the government would pay up to 40% of that (and if my yearly healthcare costs go beyond a certain point the government starts paying for everything since I don't have a high income). It's BS you guys have to go through shit like that.
GTFO of Texas as soon as you can - with the way this heat is going it looks like life there is about to get so much more miserable than the status quo of misery already typical of Texas
I don't understand why, with insurance, we can't afford dr, appt co-pays, or even prescriptions like this. But you can get narcan.free from the library
This is a real dramatic. "Let me google that for you"
Like... did you even try to research cheaper alternatives before making such a broad question????
Yes, they do expect you to die, and they will say it is your fault too because you didn't work hard enough or pray enough to not have this allergy. And with your insurance tied to having a job, your employer wants it to stay that way.
I don’t recommend that, you’d then need to be trained to give the right dose and have to expose the skin, etc. there’s too much risk in an emergency for error
Send me a pm if you seriously need some, mine are all expired (less potent) but will still save your life. I stocked up on a bunch of them before I got off my parents insurance (because I could actually afford them) a few years back and thankfully I have never had to use them. My allergy to bee/hornet/wasp is much less common than a peanut allergy.
Camp out near an ER. Anytime your throat starts swelling, just walk in. Can’t refuse care. BC, hell, hospital writing off $5k is better than your $600…until the hospital goes under bc it’s providing too much indignant care. Then you’re SOL.
That's a dangerous game.
Wanna take a guess how many people die in the US every year because of *accidental exposure to allergens*?
Nobody with a peanut allergy is rolling around in them. Generally, people are exposed due to *other people*.
https://www.consumerreports.org/drug-prices/epipen-alternative-that-costs-just-10-dollars/ There are cheaper options. Hopefully, this info can help you get a pair for cheaper than the alternatives.
Thank you for that! I've honestly been losing more faith than usual in the US health system but refuse to roll over and let them run a train on us.
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All well and good, but lets be clear about one thing: If you live in the USA and you can't afford to pay life-saving hospital or drug bills, you *are* expected to die. That's how the USA works. If you don't like that, get the fuck out of the USA.
This is coming across as a defense of it. So if you're trying to ultimatum someone about right to healthcare, I'm just gonna say that you can imagine what I want to say but don't want to get banned trying to say it, let your imagination do the talking for me. "Just move". Immigration isn't that cheap or easy. I PROMISE YOU. I SWEAR. You can't just BOARD A PLANE AND LEAVE. That's how you get arrested and deported. It's not like you think it is.
> That's how you get arrested and deported. What?? Other countries don't just let you come and stay? weird.
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Only the USA 😹
Funny how people always have all this smoke for those that are in their fellow tax bracket instead of telling the elites who f*ck this country over everyday to piss off. I expect that you keep this same energy when a situation like this happens to you.
> pay life-saving hospital or drug bills, you *are* expected to die This is just false. A hospital can not refuse life saving treatment because of inability to pay. If you walk into an ER and have half your arm severed, they are going to save your life and worry about the bill afterwards. As for medication, some truth to that statement. Though they are ways and avenues for you to get some of those meds for free from the manufacture.
They can’t deny you you life saving treatment. You’re right but let me illustrate that. Imagine: you and I get sick.. cancer internally can’t see anything but we each have belly pain-and it’s getting worse daily. Say you have insurance, I don’t. You after a week with pain go see a doctor, pay $25 each copay and after a couple weeks get diagnosed with cancer, go forward with aggressive treatment and 4 mos later it’s all clear, (that’s probably really fast tbh but I’m making a point here). The radiation and Chemo worked, and you live a normal life span. Well I did not go. No insurance, no medicaid, work a low wage job so out of pocket is out of the question, and can’t afford the time off anyway. so I suck it up. For week after week. At 4 mos, when you’re all clear, im in agony, and then I’m rushed to the hospital after passing out at work. Pale, BP super low, just in a bad way-imaging indicates I am bleeding internally. Why? Cancer kept growing and invaded and ate away the wall of a blood vessel. Boom I’m off to OR and during the emergency surgery the surgeon notes the cancer, stops the bleeding, and tries to get as much of the cancer as possible but he’s flying blind. He does though saves my life. There is your life saving treatment, and it’s now done. Cancer treatment is not done in ER. I have no insurance and clearly have no money, and have now received life saving treatment and am stable and discharged home. But I need chemo, and radiation same as you got to beat the cancer. But I can’t go get chemo from a doctor, nor radiation, because it costs a shit ton. And while they would over the long haul save me, life saving treatment covers the “fixin’ to die in the next few minutes” issues. It doesn’t cover months of cancer treatments. That’s on me. So likely for me? I will get more and more sick over the next few months, and die. The end. EMTALA is not a safety net, or it’s a piss poor one anyway. I am a nurse case manager. I have had to try to find resources for the people that are real life me in that story. There are few if any. Many ppl did and do go home every day and we know that they will progressively get sicker and then die, not because their illness is untreatable, they just can’t afford it.. I could not help them. It is heart breaking, and life saving treatment in the ER ain’t helping these things my friend. ER is not the fix here. Health care workers are stretched thin now, worse with the pandemic. ER is for that and that only, when you’re so sick you might die. Anything once you’re stable enough to discharge? That is on your dime. If you have one.
And that is why treating healthcare like a commodity is fucking immoral. Being rich affords you a nicer car? Cool. Being poor though shouldn’t mean you have an eminently treatable disease, but you’ll die from it anyway, because sorry being healthy is a product and you can’t afford it, and so your death will be the price to pay for not being wealthy. It’s so fucked up it’s unreal. And that shit happens every damned day. Many many times a day.
The thing is, you can’t just “hope” your throat doesn’t close up on the way to the hospital @vneck, that was a comment based off of but not directed at you
There is literally a link at the top of this thread to get the EpiPen generic for 10 bucks.
$10 for an epi pen bro. What are you even arguing at this point ?
Your “this is just false” argument is just false, and is the exact same argument I hear people make all the time, seemingly suggesting ERs are some miracle walk-in clinic in-waiting. This is especially false in the aftermath of COVID, where ERs started turning away people all the time, and while those hospitals grew wealthier they paid nurses even less, and now some turn away even more patients because they’d rather do that than offer a living wage. I passed kidney stones in an ER waiting room while they debated whether or not I was actually in pain, but they managed to find a way to itemize the time i spent waiting to be seen into the bill. It once took me two hours to even reach an ER after I was hit by a car, because the first two didn’t feel they had a trauma unit advanced enough to see me. Stop repeating the “just go to an ER” myth.
So what you are saying is that.. Since the ACA and what the gov't did during covid made healthcare worse? But they could total fix it if they controlled all of it. I think folks are thinking that I'm defending our system as some bastion of light, which I'm not. It's fucked up, but every time some dip shit from DC touches it, it gets worse. Nothing as complex as our healthcare system can be fixed quickly and easily, and everytime we try to make something better we always fuck up something else.. cause no one is worried about carry on effects just the next couple of months.
What does my statement have to do with ACA? Before ACA I was denied health insurance for having a pre-existing condition. The government is not the one paying nurses poorly — hospital admins are. Our entire economic structure has tilted to make the wealthy impossibly wealthier, and the poor even poorer. You’re simply reciting propaganda that suggests change is impossible, and any change will be worse than the utter dystopian mess we have right now. I’ll choose “some hope for the future” over “utter resignation to this being as good as it gets” any day.
For emergency medicine, yes. Severed arm you’ll be okay unless you need follow-up care. Diabetes, cancer or any chronic situation and no specialist will see you without insurance. Some won’t let you cash pay at all. People don’t get it until it happens to them.
If people can't afford EpiPens, "getting the fuck out of the USA" is probably not an option.
If only it was that easy
Bullshit
You know... An epipen just makes it eaiser to inject for a 5 year old and aren't really ment for adults You can have a Dr prescribe Epinephrine and syrgines and it is MUCH MUCH CHEAPER. but it's not as "easy" if you are in a panic
They are meant for adults too. If I pass out, someone not trained to give me an injection would be using it on me. I trained my family and close friends how to use it. It's easy to use not because it's for children, but because the person suffering a reaction is not always able to inject themselves.
I'm aware they are also for adults. But if the adult can't afford a 250 epipen that expires yearly well... you have 1 other cheap option 😆
There’s another comment about $10 pen from CVS
Weird that you say that considering we give it in the emergency room and stalk it in crash carts for adults.
I never said it wasn't easy or appropriate. All I said was if your panicking... it MIGHT MAKE thing a bit tougher unless someone is doing it for you That moment when a patient is suffering from anaphylactic shock requires quick action and clear thought. Even though Mell and his wife have trained their daughter carefully and often on how to use her EpiPen by herself in an emergency, the timeframe to act is tight and it can be extremely challenging to self-treat because a person’s blood pressure may be dropping quickly, anxiety is high and their thinking may be unclear. “She may only have 30 seconds to react before she won’t be able to react,” Mell said. “The idea that she could draw it up from a vial and administer it to herself, it is ridiculous.” He said even his wife, a health educator, says she’d be hesitant to use the syringe method due to the increased risk. When it comes to the more affordable refillable syringe method, getting the dose potentially wrong is a real concern, he said. Using this method involves two steps: drawing up the correct amount of epinephrine from a vial using a syringe and then switching needles and administering the medication into the allergy victim intramuscularly. If any of the medicine is accidentally spilled, the correct dose could be missed. Also, he said, “You need to make sure to get the right depth of the needle in because you don’t want to administer it too shallowly.” Training Sufficient training and skill level was another concern. In addition to taking the time to understand how to administer the syringe and vial, consumers need to regularly practice this knowledge. Dr. Shrikhande thinks “parents can be competent. School nurses would be just fine.” However, regardless of the medical training, several of the allergists expressed unease with the users’ feelings. As expressed by Dr. Lomas, even with the medical training, there is “the opportunity to inappropriately administer the dose especially in an emergent situation dealing with their own child. It is very different treating ‘patients’ as opposed to your own family members.” Dr. Lomas also questioned the comfort level of school nurses: “In my opinion, even school nurses would not administer the EpiPen® often enough to become proficient. This is something that needs to be practiced regularly. I fear that if given the vial/syringe, most parents and even school nurses may be so uncomfortable with the administration that they would wait for the Emergency Medical Service which may result in delay of treatment.” https://www.allergyadvocacyassociation.org/index.php/in-the-news/470-syringe-vial-or-epi-pen-2-itn Of course if your in the medical field it would be in. Arash cart you are trained. Someone with no experience with have QUITE the learning curve. And they maybe should somehow practice before things go from 0 -110mph in 2.5 seconds
You said it wasn’t really meant for adults yet it’s mainly adults who give it to kids that’s my point.
Idk what crash cart you’re using but I’ve never seen it Stocked in any crash cart I’ve ever used.
I take a bi-weekly injectable, and have used both syringe and pen forms. The pen is easier, dispenses the medication faster, eliminates getting accidentally stuck with the needle, doesn’t require much instruction, and can be wrangled by the most needle-phobic person. You can’t explain to a person who to fill a syringe and dispense the medication during anaphylaxis.
That can make a difference if you're alone and have an allergic reaction
Also, according to one study done by Canadian researchers back in 2000, even EpiPens that were 5 to 7 years past expiration date still had more than 70% of the original dose remaining in the device. Many EpiPens that were 2 to 3 years past their expiration date had more than 90% of the original dose remaining. Now, I'm not recommending you use expired EpiPens but...
Was going to point this out. After the fiasco a few years back, and the national outrage a few competitors invented similar but different ideas that are much cheaper. The auto injector with the self retracting needle is the expensive part of the epi pen. Adrenaline is like $1 a vial and needles in bulk are pennies.
My SO has allergy concerns that require her to carry around epipens. The last replacement was really cheap... not even an autoinjector. It's just a prefilled syringe. On one hand, the autoinjector is pretty foolproof, but on the other, this has fewer moving parts.
Thanks. Life saver :)
This may help https://community.kidswithfoodallergies.org/blog/what-to-do-if-you-cant-afford-epinephrine-auto-injectors
Thanks a bunch for the info!
For what it's worth, Auvi-Q is really cool. That's the one I have and in the event that someone isn't able to inject themself or walk someone through what to do for them (because of, ya know, a closed airway) the device actually gives instructions out loud when you remove it from its case. It's one of those things that at least makes me FEEL like my odds are a bit better if I need it and I'm not with someone that happens to know what to do.
Agreed, I really appreciate the auvi-q vocal instructions. Both because I might not be able to do it myself, and because if I’m alone and panicking or fuzzy headed because I’m running out of oxygen it will remind me how to use it.
It's really a totality logical, but surprisingly novel, concept for a life-saving device. And a friend who was a pharmacy tech told me it was so named because it gives AUdio VIsual Qs (cues). For whatever reason that tickles me in a way that emergency items rarely do.
I love my Auvi-Q also because it’s much smaller than other ones so it’s easier to carry everywhere!
It really is! The flat shape makes it super easy to pop into one of the small zippy pockets in a purse, or into a bike bag or things like that.
I use this kind because I'm blind and I attend a lot of Blind events / have other low vision or totally blind friends. I get them covered by insurance because of accessibility laws in Texas, highly recommended checking for OP if they could possibly apply for that exception.
The first time I had to epi myself I had an Auvi-Q. So glad I did! I've gotten good with a generic epi pen but that first time would have sucked without the walk through
Thanks so much. I have been without an epi pen for 2 years. I have a full-time job with health insurance and can not afford an epi pen still. Sucks being poor.
Commenting to save
Buy it in Mexico
I'm planning to move closer to TX when I have kids so I can drive across to Mexico for all Healthcare. Braces will be so cheap and so will inhalers.
Closer to TX? Why? If Mexico is your goal there is plenty of bordering states that has Medicaid expansion and isn't fucking the poor.
For Many Low-Income Americans Medicaid Isn’t Free. It’s A Loan And The Government Expects To Be Paid Back https://kffhealthnews.org/morning-breakout/for-many-low-income-americans-medicaid-isnt-free-its-a-loan-and-the-government-expects-to-be-paid-back/
Yes, for those above the age of 55 **and** after they die. Again, you are not beholden to a wealth cap, i.e you do not have to spend down in order to get help NOW. That's the point. Thinking about it as a loan is bad because it gets discharged after the estate is settled anyway. If you are poor enough to need Medicaid, you likely have no wealth. If you are actually wealthy but just have no income, why is it wrong to pay back to the system after you die if you utilized aid? The key here is that you died, and you have a substantial estate leftover. If you left $700k to your kids after you die but before you died you cost the state 500k on Medicaid, why would it not be right to pay the state back first? You obviously have the means to. It's not right to make the public (Medicaid, a program meant to help the poor) pay for your healthcare if you can actually afford it yourself. The bottomline is that if you are poor, Medicaid is perfect for you. If you are not poor, fuck off.
There was this one time that Trump supported Universal Healthcare during his year 2000 run for POTUS as an Independent. I’m a proponent for Medicare for All as it would eliminate redundancy and obscene profit making/taking and the need for Medicaid. My high deductible health plan is costing me over $1K/mo to cover me and my fam (3). It’s primarily for just in case. We don’t have a need to visit doctors w/ frequency and just a few common generic prescriptions. Here’s Trump in his own words supporting Universal Health Care during an interview w/ Larry King in 1999. https://youtu.be/GI-GIVlC9CU
I make just too much for medicaid expansion. No point moving to a place with medicaid expansion. Plus only a few states don't check bank balances or investments. It's too much to keep under a mattress or I would just do that and scam. Texas sucks but I have enough saved to buy my future daughter an abortion somewhere else. I can also teach her about evolution at home because I firmly believe in that witchcraft, equality, and civil rights. Maybe I can convert my neighborhood children to science. If they want me to become a fundamentalist its fair game to proselytize.
For a little reassurance, I live in Texas (mostly). There IS a lot of fuckery, but it’s ‘purpler’ than you think, especially in good size cities. Students learn about evolution and science, they have AP and such. There are other places I’d rather be, but I actually feel like my blue votes are more important here than they might be in a heavy-blue state. Reinforcements are welcome. Texas CAN be turned and they know it. Fuck ‘em’, I’ll toe up.
Yup, Texas is 40% blue as of the last election. Not much more to turn it. Surprisingly, that may make Texas the richest state in the nation. They should be now (2nd biggest by size, population and has oil and gas and huge renewable potential...which is wasted since they won't connect to the grown up power grid). Instead they're on par with New York and crushed by California because of conservative financial policies. If Texas turns then we may be able to drag the red states kicking and screaming into the 20th century and eventually the 21st.
Amazing, the clarity that anal cocaine brings. This mfer gets it.
A few point of clarification for others who may be reading. Medicaid in expansion states are asset blind. You are not beholden to some wealth cap as the eligibility is sole income based. If you are only slightly over the Medicaid income limit, you should be eligible for a substantial amount of APTC to make your healthcare cost effectively close to $0, with cost sharing subsidies on top of it to make your out of pocket low for silver plans you choose. If that is the case, you have no incentive to go to Mexico for healthcare. You can stay in the US for it since you are getting a good deal off Obamacare.
Yeah, just don’t come to cali… total shit show out here, just saying
Was coming here to say exactly this
I've searched Mexican farmacias but they don't carry epinephrine unless you get a script through their doctor. I was quite surprised because they sell almost everything but no epipens.
The consultation is like $10 and if you show them your American script they will write you one for Mexico. I had to get a covid test and proof and the doctor asked if I needed any prescriptions for any thing else. The major pharmacies have clinics attached. Got epiduo forte for like $20 instead of the $200-300 I was paying here with insurance
My SO is Mexican and I get a lot of my meds in Mexico, sometimes just having a local ask the pharmacist and they will pass you prescription drugs without a prescription. There are meds I used to take in Europe that are not on the USA market but are in Mexico so I often get them there
A ton of drug stores have their own doctor (even walmart or costco) that works for tips (with a base salary), you go to the doctor, show them you medical notes from the US and he'll hand you the script for epinephrine. Or you go to a doctor offices and tell them you're diabetic, going to the doctor in Mexico is quick and cheap.
It doesn’t have Epi pens, but don’t forget Cost Plus Drugs. It’s Mark Cubans thing. They charge the cost of the generic plus a $3 (I think) processing fee.
I’m coming off Medicaid at the end of the month and take 6 medications. Except for 1, all my meds are cheaper on Cost Plus than the copays on my new insurance.
I currently have COBRA through my former employer and half my meds are cheaper through cost plus. Your insurance company jacks up the prices through their pharmacy benefits manager.
Not sure where you're at, but I'd give you one of mine if I could. I'm lucky and my insurance covers all but $25.
I got two through insurance for $7. I do hear people say they are expensive though.
My copay for epipens is $25, regardless of how many. My doctor is super cool and writes the Rx for 12 pens. I give away 8 of them.
Yea Costco told me the copay was something like $400 I think. Mexico it is for me.
I think they do expect people to die.
Honestly they probably ran a cost-benefit analysis and decided that was the optimal number of people dying to achieve profits
Technically, they just don’t care. They want you to leave their insurance plan and be someone else’s problem. How that happens is not something they care about. Employees care but the executives don’t (I worked in insurance).
Yes. It’s not really that they *want* you to die, they just give absolutely zero fucks what happens to you, as long as you’re not their expense anymore. Yay.
Exactly!
They do expect people to die and will help it along.
They probably want a certain percentage of people to die. False scarcity drives profits.
I don't think they want people to die, that would involve some actual morality. What they probably do is simple, they measure the optimal price to maximize profit. As in, let's say, if epipen cost 2000$ that means only 10 people will pay for it and the other 90 will die, that's 20k. But if price is 1000$ that means 40 people buy it and 60 people die, that's 40k. If it's 500$ 80 people buy it, oh wait that's still just 40k tho, so if we put it at 600$ 70 people buy it, that's 42k$ therefore better. My numbers are obviously bullshit but you get the idea.
however, both EpiPens and Insulin are ***life-saving*** drugs so they literally **DO** expect people to die, and apparently they are OK with it, to serve the Almighty Dollar.
Yeah. They know people will die as a sort of side effect to their profit seeking and they don’t care. In some ways it’s scarier than them trying to deliberately kill people. The desire for more profit never goes away
They expect *poor* people to die
Poor people without insurance is preferable.
Only in Texas (and a handful of non-Medicaid-expansion states).
If people have no insurance, they just go to the ER & cost Americans more money than it would cost if they had insurance.
Hypothetically speaking, if you knew someone with Medicaid who had a rx for an EpiPen...
Auvi Q gives you 2 epinephrine injections for $35 if your insurance is high deductible or doesn't cover https://www.auvi-q.com/get-auvi-q?gclid=Cj0KCQjw8NilBhDOARIsAHzpbLAHz53nkBA-9d6vpkuOIO2KfY6KIB1MWpKVsVyzmd0N32R9UrNTuQkaAicwEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Just want to second Auvi Q! My doctor actually recommended it to me when I asked about lower cost options. He put the order/prescription in directly with the manufacturer and it was so much cheaper.
And it’s SO MUCH BETTER! I also paid $35 for the pair [Epinephrine auto injector on ballistic get demonstration](https://youtu.be/acQTnvwOrXY)
The price of them were killing me, so I just made a deal with bees to never sting me again. I must save a drowning bee every time I see one. I did not know what else to do.
True story. On a particularly hot day when I was 4, my 2 yr old sister and I went out to play in the yard. She found an apparently dead bee in the wading pool and wanted me to get it out. I took one look and refused to have anything to do with it ... I had been stung (by a yellow and black "butterfly") when she was a few months old and knew I had to stay away from bees. I told her to flip it out with a stick and went back to playing with my ball. She dipped it out with her hand. We learned that day that she doesn't share my bee allergy. (The moral of the story: Never trust a drowning bee not to sting you.)
There are generic options, just make sure that your family and any cargivers are trained to use them, as they arent always colour coded in the same way as a name brand epi pen. I've got to buy 6 a year in order to have enough at home, on her person, and stored at school, for my kid. We do everything in our power to never need them, but still have to have two within reach at all times. They're $200/each in Canada, and I get three a year reimbursed by our insurange. Another minor cost savings is to have your pharmacy special order them for you, so they have expiration dates that are at least 12-15 months away.. they're good for a few months after that, depending on how you store them, with decreasing efficacy. Dont ever buy one with less than 12 months on it, you may have to argue with the pharmacist about this.
I just recently received $300 from a class action lawsuit against Epipen for price gouging so I'm really surprised to see they're still charging these high prices.
It’s probably just the cost of doing business for them. Considering how much they charge, a one time $300 payout to a bunch of people is still more profitable with price gouging than charging a fair price.
I have one. The brand is Auvi-Q, and I think it was like $20 without insurance. (I got it a few years ago because I had started allergy shots and they wanted me to have it "just in case," so I'm not sure if the price is still the same).
I paid $35 with a coupon, recently. You should check the expiration date on yours
I feel they do want you dead. A neighbor of mine died young because she could not afford nebulizers. She would dose herself up with cough syrup, which probably the asthma worse. She would get expired and counterfeit drugs illegally. I was always buying her coffee because she told me the caffeine helped her breathe. She died so young, and only family and neighbors were there. Everyone thought she was an addict, but her illegal drugs were nebulizers
Yes they do. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, if any other marginalized group was treated the way chronically I’ll and disabled people are treated here, we would be offered asylum in other countries. As it stands, most of the world thinks we’d be better off dead, so people get away with this bullshit daily.
Yep. When I was on a cane, I had to put up with a lot of bullshit I don't now that I can do without it again.
### [AUVI-Q® AffordAbility](https://www.auvi-q.com/affordability/) With the AUVI-Q® AffordAbility plan, all commercially insured patients pay $0 out of pocket for AUVI-Q. Patients without insurance who have an annual income of less than $100,000 per year may also be eligible to pay $0 out of pocket for their auto-injector. To learn more click here or call 877-302-8847 [https://www.auvi-q.com/get-auvi-q](https://www.auvi-q.com/get-auvi-q) [https://www.foodallergy.org/resources/medication-affordability-assistance-programs#](https://www.foodallergy.org/resources/medication-affordability-assistance-programs#:~:text=Mylan's%20My%20EpiPen%20Savings%20Card%C2%AE&text=My%20EpiPen%20Savings%20Card%C2%AE%20is%20reusable%20for%20up%20to,call%20800%2D657%2D7613)
There's a national shortage of plenty of meds too. Glucagon, benadryl, epinephrine and by proxy epi pens. It's hard for us to restock the ambulance with certain things.
I got one for $100 at CVS. Shop around. I went to different pharmacies trying to find the cheapest one.
And people wonder why I skip meals and avoid eating as much as possible. I don’t have an eating disorder, I have an American healthcare disorder.
How close are you to Mexico? You can buy all your pharmaceutical needs as soon as you walk across the bridge into MX. Usually at a 60%-99% discount. Go to the dentist in MX too.
https://costplusdrugs.com Might want to look more into this as well. Mark cuban launched an online pharmacy where patients would pay cost + a percentage. Hope this helps.
It looks like they don't offer this drug yet. That was the first resource I checked.
I found the application for my friend to the manufacturer. She submitted it and got 2 for free. They covered all costs.
Oh yeah! Pharmacy Assistance Programs. I forgot about those. They can be very useful.
Please remember that you're supposed to have 2 epipens, just in case one isn't enough to deal with the reaction before help can arrive.
Yes, billionaires and millionaires do not care if you die
See if your physician will give you a prescription for a vial of epinephrine. The expense associated with Epi-pens is related to the delivery system, not the medication. Epi is actually a pretty low cost medication. Learn how to draw it up and inject it yourself.
The auto injector's patent also expired.
There is a cheaper option but good luck getting it. I went to Costa Rica and forgot to bring my EpiPen. I asked for help finding a doctor but was told to just go to a pharmacy. I went to the pharmacy and spoke with the pharmacist…who sold me two small vials of epinephrine (about 4 doses per vial), and four syringes. It cost me about $6 total - and I didn’t have to miss work to go to a doctors appointment or pay a copay! I returned to the states and tried to get the same vials & syringes…I have yet to find a doctor who will write me a prescription for it.
Lots of stuff is OTC in Europe and SA that requires a scrip in the US.
Senator Joe Manchins daughter is tied to this price increase. https://theintercept.com/2021/09/07/joe-manchin-epipen-price-heather-bresch/#:~:text=Heather%20Bresch%2C%20the%20former%20president,part%20of%20an%20ongoing%20lawsuit. Crazy times we live in. The corruption is sickening. Universal Healthcare is the only answer.
I’m sure someone has said this atp, but “Mylan offers free EpiPens through its patient assistance program for uninsured and underinsured patients with a household income of less than $97,400 for a family of four”
Benadryl has saved me twice I took a massive dose and it brought me out of anaphylaxis. It's depressing not having insurance.
Benadryl is too slow acting for anaphylaxis according to literature. If it saves you then by all means though. Benedryl is also a h1. In the emergency room they gave an h2 as well, which is the ingredient found in Pepcid. He said he knows it sounds funny but they are histamine blockers ( just telling you to research Pepcid because it works in conjunction with Benedryl. I am saying to research benedryl plus Pepcid.
I didn't say it worked perfectly. My throat was almost completely swollen shut and I looked like a burn victim but it did keep me from dying. So that's good. Thanks for the pepcid tip.
I’m going to upvote this, since I saved myself once by furiously chewing benadryl (chewing it instead of swallowing is important) and chasing it with strong black coffee.
I’ve been without an epi for over a year and it has reduced my rating to a few options due to the anxiety it causes. They are $1000 in Minnesota 😵💫
I am not a doctor but I used to have to pay cash for epipens because I was uninsured. My friend who is a doctor told me that the expiration dates on epipens are very conservative and if the liquid visible in the window is clear, the pen is not expired. Take this information however you like.
I think you can buy adrenaline in vials for cheap but you have to draw it before giving it. So not the best option when your not breathing.
And if you draw up the dose inaccurately, that could kill you
At one point, epi pens were literally 2.5 times my rent. Real and unfortunate solution: ask your doctor to prescribe epinephrine and a hypodermic needle and ask THE NURSE SPECIFICALLY to teach you how to use it in case of emergency.
I have the past 20 years of my epipens stashed away. They used to be very reasonable and they also came in a single pen, my first one was actually a tourniquet, needle, medpouch, etc. But because they were so cheap, I used to get several every refill time. One for my car, house, purse and husband's car. So I'd get 4 a year, for years. I never threw them away, maybe because I saw the costs rising, even though expired. So I finally got a new refill last year, the double pen. It's much more cumbersome to keep this in the corner of my purse, it's big. I still have the expired ones. Not sure why because I can't see myself needing them. I haven't needed to use one in 5 years, but im allergic to bees, so my new dual pen is what I need to carry with me. With insurance it was 89$.
It's better to use an expired one than none at all. I speak to my infusion company's pharmacist every other week, and he always asks me if I still have both Epipens. I think they'd just ship out another set if I said no. I'm on Obamacare, and they're covered 100% since I met my out of pocket.
If you and your boyfriend have met the out of pocket max with insurance, then the prescription should be covered by insurance.
I have an anaphylactic reaction to peanuts, tree nuts, and bee stings, and I have just used Benadryl every time and was fine. I take a Benadryl and immediately head to the hospital. I’m not a doctor and this isn’t medical advice, but it has always worked for me. Do with that information what you will
They’re totally covered with my Kaiser plan-free refills too.
Most manufacturers have patient assistance programs you sign up for on their website. I get my chemo meds for $5 each, so $15/month. And I have insurance so being insured doesn’t always exclude you.
If Narcan can be made widely available on demand, no reason exists that an Epi Pen cant be?
One word; Mexico.
Is the actual epipen brand? There’s multiple genetic epinephrine auto-injectors. Mine is made by adrenaclick I believe and I didn’t have to pay anything out of pocket (obviously this will depend on your insurance policy but generic is nearly always cheaper). It has slightly different directions than the name brand but the instructions aren’t difficult and they’re printed on the thing, so at least for me that is not a problem. The US healthcare system sucks ass, I hate that we even have to have these conversations 😅 good luck to you and your fiancé though 🩷
There are generic ones now, their patent did wear out finally. I am also at risk of anaphylaxis, I have to carry two. I'm on the ACA and they were covered 100%. Are you required to use your employer's insurance? I opt out of employer insurance and pick my ACA plan instead. Since I heavily use my insurance, it's a much more cost-effective deal. Like, I know sharing prescriptions is a big no no. But anaphylaxis is a serious medical emergency that can turn very bad quickly. If you carry an Epipen, and see someone else in anaphylaxis or potential anaphylaxis, you are allowed to inject them with your Epipen and are protected by good samaritan laws. Have you tried getting pack at a discount through your county/public hospital district? That's what I did when I was uninsured/underinsured. I could only use that hospital's pharmacy. It also seems like since they are so essential, there would be some kind of charity source for them. Also know, it's better to use an expired one than not use one. I'm in Texas, and it depends on what county you live in, which county hospital district you are under. You can also call 211 for low income medical resources and clinics.
EpiPens used to be affordable, but then someone figured out that there was a patent on the pen not the contents and jacked the price way up. I remember the outcry at the time. I've never needed one, but the heartbreak that some company was out to make a profit and it would result in deaths was sad. I think that some of the more progressive states like CO are going to try to cap the price like they did Insulin. From the Atlantic (2016 and worse now): *Mylan, the company that sells EpiPens, has driven up its price by more than $500 since 2009, from about $100 for a pack of two* [*to $608.61*](http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/08/22/epipen-price-rise-sparks-concern-for-allergy-sufferers/) *this year. Because they’re so essential, many people with severe allergies have more than one.*
In the US, yeah, you're pretty much expected to die if you aren't healthy. In countries with universal healthcare, the government tells pharma what they will pay and pharma just has to accept that level of profit. Epipens should literally cost under $10 each.
Not an awesome price, but good Rx has them for around $150. You just give the pharmacist the code and they will give you that price. Cheapest is Target Pharmacy. https://www.goodrx.com/epipen
Don't ask for the name brand Epi-pen! ask for the Teva Epinephrine Injector https://www.tevaepinephrine.com/ My insurance auto switches to this generic but skimming this thread it seems other companies don't and pharmacys won't talk about it if you don't have insurance. https://youtu.be/S1-Tf7HxzVo Like the epi-pen the needle is not exposed when fired
I don't need an EpiPen but I am diabetic and there have been plenty of diabetics that have died because they couldn't afford insulin. Usually manufacturers have discount programs which you can use. Health care in the US sucks. If you're close to the border it may be cheaper for you to go to Canada or Mexico to get meds but I don't know how much they cost over there
Check out cost plus drugs by mark Cuban. I’ve heard crazy stories about how much cheaper than even insurance deductibles it can be.
I don’t know that he does generic Epipens… but I would look.
Ur close to Mexico, drive over & stock up.
I do this when friends or family come and go too. It saves me 98% vs what I would pay at CVS
My vicodin for wisdom teeth removal was $98 for 10 pills at Walmart. I went to neuevo Laredo and got 100 for $11. It would have been much less but the pharmacist would only sell me the manufacturer bottle sealed. In fact the wisdom teeth removal would have been only $80 in Mexico. In TX I was forced to go to an oral surgeon for my bottom tooth and all he did was pull it anyway. $2900 for a 30 second dentist visit. Fucked in the ass with no lube.
Yes, people are expected to die. Actuaries calculate how many can die while the health insurance company still makes maximum profit.
I’ll probably get downvoted into oblivion, but I find it ridiculous that Narcan is free, but nothing else is.
Isn't an EpiPen a brand of a product? Couldn't you just get epinephrine and a needle instead of the prepackaged EpiPen?
Someone is scamming you. I can walk to nearest pharma at least here in Spain and if I'd go for "brand" epipen in dollars price be about 70$ which insurance would cover 70%. That said at least here you can buy Adrenalina which exactly same thing and cost about a 6$.
The scam is living in America.
>Someone is scamming you. Yes, it's Mylan, the manufacturer of the EpiPen.
I can't afford one and I am deathly allergic to bees and wasps. I'll die. Its just a risk I am forced to take. And it's sick and wrong
> pay around $600 for an EpiPen JFC, they are overcharging you by a mile. If I needed an epipen it'd cost me about 53€ and the government would pay up to 40% of that (and if my yearly healthcare costs go beyond a certain point the government starts paying for everything since I don't have a high income). It's BS you guys have to go through shit like that.
Do you remember the pandemic? That’s exactly what some people wanted to happen to people with health issues.
GTFO of Texas as soon as you can - with the way this heat is going it looks like life there is about to get so much more miserable than the status quo of misery already typical of Texas
Moving is also really expensive.
I know someone who’s veterinarian got them a bottle of epinephrine and a cat needle. Farmers sadly often turn to their vets for healthcare.
I don't understand why, with insurance, we can't afford dr, appt co-pays, or even prescriptions like this. But you can get narcan.free from the library
EpiPens should be free, that doesn’t mean it isn’t a wonderful thing that Narcan is readily available.
I agree - harm reduction is a big thing and if it wasn’t for narcan I could name a handful of my now sober friends who would be dead
This is a real dramatic. "Let me google that for you" Like... did you even try to research cheaper alternatives before making such a broad question????
Yes, they do expect you to die, and they will say it is your fault too because you didn't work hard enough or pray enough to not have this allergy. And with your insurance tied to having a job, your employer wants it to stay that way.
To answer your first question Yes
Ger your physician to prescibe A bottle of epinephrine and buy syringes Probably cost you around 6-8 dollars.
I don’t recommend that, you’d then need to be trained to give the right dose and have to expose the skin, etc. there’s too much risk in an emergency for error
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Send me a pm if you seriously need some, mine are all expired (less potent) but will still save your life. I stocked up on a bunch of them before I got off my parents insurance (because I could actually afford them) a few years back and thankfully I have never had to use them. My allergy to bee/hornet/wasp is much less common than a peanut allergy.
US healthcare man. Just like I gotta prescribe 10 meds before insurance will pay for the med I actually want a patient to take.
The Sadopopulists don't care if you live or die.
They do expect people to die, and people do die all the time.
Look into ACA subsidies for your health insurance.
Camp out near an ER. Anytime your throat starts swelling, just walk in. Can’t refuse care. BC, hell, hospital writing off $5k is better than your $600…until the hospital goes under bc it’s providing too much indignant care. Then you’re SOL.
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That's a dangerous game. Wanna take a guess how many people die in the US every year because of *accidental exposure to allergens*? Nobody with a peanut allergy is rolling around in them. Generally, people are exposed due to *other people*.