Canadians with allergies not subject to same EpiPen price hike as U.S. consumers
TORONTO — The skyrocketing price for the rescue medication carried by people at risk for potentially life-threatening anaphylaxis has created a furor in the U.S., but there’s no need for Canadians who use the device to panic, says the head of Food Allergy Canada.
“The regulatory pricing system here is different than in the U.S., and so we have not seen huge increases for the device year over year,” Laurie Harada, the organization’s executive director, said of the EpiPen.
In the U.S., the EpiPen is sold by pharmaceutical company Mylan, which incrementally hiked its price more than 500 per cent over the last nine years, pushing its list price for a two-syringe pack from US$94 to more than US$600.
Canadians pay around C$120 for a single auto-injector, with the price varying somewhat, depending on an individual pharmacy’s dispensing fee, Harada said Thursday.