Legislation Co-Sponsored By Senator Young Will Ease Costs For Those Who Rely Upon Live-Saving EpiPens

ALBANY – Senator Catharine Young (R,C,I- 57th District) has announced that she is co-sponsoring important new legislation that will allow pharmacists to dispense a less expensive version of the EpiPen for patients who suffer from severe allergic reactions.

“Thousands of individuals with severe allergies rely on their auto-injector to deliver a life-saving dose of epinephrine. EpiPen, the brand name that patients and health care professionals know best, is relied upon by the majority of these patients to combat anaphylaxis, but the prescription contains just a single dosage per injector. People with severe allergies need to keep an injector available at their home, school and place of work, so the costs can really add up,” said Senator Young.

Over the past year, Mylan Pharmaceutical has increased the list price for EpiPen by 75 percent, bringing the cost to over $600. In many cases, the brand name auto-injector is not covered by a individual’s insurance, leaving a patient with a substantial financial burden for this life-saving drug.

“For someone whose insurance does not cover the prescription, it can create a crippling financial burden. It is a travesty that the company has hiked prices so dramatically, especially without offering any relief for consumers who are beholden to the medication in an emergency situation. We should be doing everything in our power to assist consumers and ease the costs of medications. Allowing pharmacist to dispense an alternative or generic version of EpiPen would result in a substantial saving for many New Yorkers,” Senator Young said.

New York’s generic substitution law requires pharmacists to dispense a lower cost generic for a brand name prescription unless the prescriber writes “dispense as written.” However, since there is not technically a generic version of the EpiPen available currently, a pharmacist cannot substitute an alternative auto-injector if the prescriber issued a prescription specifically for an EpiPen. While the company recently announced they will authorize a generic version of the EpiPen, at $300, it is still more than three times the price of the EpiPen when Mylan Pharmaceutical acquired the product in 2007. Generic alternative versions of the auto-injector can cost as little $140, but they are less known and not as frequently prescribed by name.

To assist patients in the interim, health care professionals can write a patient a prescription generically for an epinephrine auto-injector. This allows a pharmacist to dispense the version of the patient’s choice, including the less expensive alternative version of the epinephrine injector, or the name brand EpiPen.