WHERE IS TEDDY ROOSEVELT WHEN WE NEED HIM

Teddy Roosevelt was known For his aggressive use of United States antitrust law, he became known as the "trust-buster". He brought 40 antitrust suits, and broke up major companies, such as the largest railroad and Standard Oil, the largest oil company.*^]

EpiPins and other drug costs.

Then there are the medications that suddenly increase in price overnight when the rights to manufacture are sold to another pharmaceutical company. A few of the notable:  **

• Cycloserine for tuberculosis, from $500 to $10,800 for 30 pills.

• Ofirmed, an injectable painkiller, from $410 to$1,019.52 for 24 vials.

• Vimovo for symptoms of arthritis, from $160 to $1,678.52 for 60 tablets.

• Edecrin, a duretic, from $470 to $4,600 per vial.

• Benznidizole, treats Chagas disease, a $60,000 per treatment increase.

• EpiPen, for kids with life-threatening allergies, a 400% increase since acquisition.

• But the ignominius topper is Daraprim. The day after purchase by Turing Pharmaceuticals, CEO Martin Shkreli bumped the price of this 62-year-old drug from $18.50 to $750. and bragged about it in the press. The medication is a critical treatment for a parasitic infection that could be fatal to those with compromised immune systems due to conditions like AIDS/HIV and cancer.

On EpiPins, the drug costs less than a dollar a dose, and I presume it may cost a few dollars to manufacture the injector, certainly less than $10 total but with the EpiPin charge of $608!  As a result of the uproar, Mylan Laboratories is offering a $300 coupon discount.   Heather Bresch, CEO of Mylan, tried to gain sympathy for their charge for an Epi-Pin ($274 for two pins with the rest added on my middle men and final sales) if she hadn't given herself a 672% increase in salary.   My medigap insurance company (the large non-profit GEHA) is charging $200+ for the EpiPin from a special negotiation, whereas I paid $56  back in 2013, I believe.

We need someone like a trust buster to stop this charging all the traffic will bear.  In my youth companies priced a new product to regain their development and manufacturing costs over two years, then they usually reduced prices somewhat.  But with prescription drugs, the price starts high and just increases with time.  There is no real competition with prescription drugs.  If one company raises the price of a drug, the competitors happily raise theirs also.

What we need is a law that says the a purchased drug must sell for less than the charge before the purchase.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt
** http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/25/mylan-expands-epipen-cost-cutting-programs-after-charges-of-price-gouging.html
*** http://itsnutsoutthere.blogspot.com/