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Thursday, March 5th, 2015

Pharmaceutical Company With Monopoly On Lifesaving Treatment Jacks Up Prices

Author:     Sam P.K. Collins
Source:     Think Progress
Publication Date:     March 3, 2015 at 11:43 am
 Link: Pharmaceutical Company With Monopoly On Lifesaving Treatment Jacks Up Prices
Stephan:   Anyone who reads SR knows my views about the Illness Profit System that passes for healthcare in the U.S.. But even I, who am very cynical about the motives of this industry, am occasionally stunned at the true level of gross greed displayed by the pharmaceutical  industry. Here is an example of what I mean. This entire industry needs to be restructured with wellness as the principal priority.
Naloxone Hydrochloride Credit: AP Photo/Charles Krupa

Naloxone Hydrochloride
Credit: AP Photo/Charles Krupa

The ongoing fight over Big Pharma’s pricing policies continues as congressional leaders shift their focus to a drug that police departments use to treat heroin overdoses. While law enforcement agencies have become more accepting of this approach to combat drug abuse, recent price spikes put the future of city and state distribution programs in jeopardy.

Earlier this week, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) blasted Amphaster Pharmaceuticals, the maker of the drug naloxone, in a letter in which the duo questioned the rationale of increasing the price of the drug during a time when heroin overdose deaths have more than tripled within a three-year period.

“Over the past several months, police departments, law enforcement agencies, and public health officials across the country have warned about the increasing price of naloxone, which they use to combat the scourge of heroin abuse,” Sanders and Cummings wrote in their letter.

 Naloxone, a generic drug that’s also known as Narcan, reverses the effects of potentially fatal […]

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