Epi-Pen Alternatives..... [View all]

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Seek out and talk to your local 'compounding' pharmacist for possible alternatives to the Epi-Pen auto-injector.

My advice is to talk with both your doctor and a 'compounding' pharmacist. The 'compounding' pharmacist in conjunction with your doctor can come up with an alternative to the high priced epi-pen. The 'compounding' pharmacist can teach you how to draw up a dose of epinephrine and how to inject/or use it.

The auto-injector product used for epi-pen was developed by a company called Survival Technology. The U.S. Military requested Survival Technology to come up with such a product to use for immediate self-injection against nerve agents on the battlefield.

I bet if we investigated this request by the U.S. Military - we would find out that the military provided funds (taxpayer funds) for the development of such a device. It blows my mind that Mylan can now jack the price up 600% for something that perhaps we taxpayers paid for initially.

Epinephrine - used in the epi-pen has been around for many, many years. It is a generic injectable product and is available in ampules and single and multiple dose vials. Again your 'compounding' pharmacist can help in acquiring these dosage forms and instruct you how to use them (i.e., draw them up in a syringe and inject it or teach you how to use the self-injector product that diabetic patients use that I provided a link for above.

Here are some links to alternatives:

Also - here is another link of alternatives: http://www.wildmedcenter.com/uploads/5/9/8/2/5982510/epinephrine.pdf

Here's a link to a video of drawing up epinephrine from a vial into a small syringe:

Note that some diabetic patients have a hard time to give themselves insulin injections. There is a product out there that some of these patients use. Here is a link to that product; http://www.allegromedical.com/diabetic-supplies-c520/autoject-2-self-injection-device-p176268.html?utm_campaign=Comparison%20Shopping&utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=feed&CS_003=9164468&CS_010=8ab281020bb66dff010bb6739214093b&gclid=CPKY3OL13c4CFdgWgQod09YFWA&kwid=productads-adid^53190000973-device^c-plaid^159979017853-sku^AJ1300@ADL1EA@ADL4ALLEGRO-adType^PLA#AJ1300_EA

Note that there are other alternatives to this product above that are even more reasonably priced.

Mylan currently has an exclusivity on the pre-filled self injector device called the Epi-Pen. Another version was removed from the market by the FDA and another company called Teva has one in development now that has been hung up by the FDA and has not yet been approved. There is a possibility that the Teva version can be approved by sometime in 2017.

In my opinion - what Mylan has done raising the price of this product borders on criminal. At least we can say that it is un-ethical.

They may be laughing all the way to the bank right now - but if any person dies because they couldn't afford to pay the outrageous price that Mylan has on this drug - I would think they might be a candidate for a law suit.

Note: A 'compounding pharmacy and a compounding pharmacist' is not your typical corner drugstore/pharmacy. Compounding pharmacy's are specialized pharmacies where the pharmacist is an expert in customizing medications (or compounding) from raw approved ingredients because the patient can't for some reason take the patented medications that are available at your local drugstore. It may be because a specialized dosage strength is required; the patient can't swallow what is currently available; a patient might be allergic to some agents in the patented medication and the compounding pharmacist can make a med that won't cause the patient any problems. They are experts in doing this sort of thing and I feel real confident that they can help out a person that can't afford to purchase Mylan's Epi-Pen.

Just know that all is not lost because one can't afford Mylan's version. There are alternatives.