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What's sad is that epinephrine itself is not expensive at all. It's the patent on the epipen design that drives up the cost. No other vendor can legally duplicate it.
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Which is the problem with most medications; since one as a patient has no alternative, one is forced to pay, even if those amounts are rediculous.
It is a section that could do well without patents.
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
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Cost of getting someone to look down at you wearing a hockey mask and theatrically brandishing a chainsaw: $0
In fact, that sounds like so much fun that I'd probably pay you a buck or two to let me do it (+ air fare + hotel costs).
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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They would first thank you then hand you their dry cleaning bill because they ruined their underwear.
if (Object.DividedByZero == true) { Universe.Implode(); }
Meus ratio ex fortis machina. Simplicitatis de formae ac munus. -Foothill, 2016
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Effectively no cost in Australia. As Pete said, that's what we pay taxes for.
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Depends what you call no-cost. Your post is misleading. The current over the counter price in Australia is about $120 per pen. As it is included in the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme[^] the cost to an Australian resident is $38.30 or $6.20 if you are entitled to a health care card PBS Epipen[^]. The PBS costs taxpayers $10 billion per year in total. Now that isn't all. To get a PBS entitlement a prescription is required which entails a visit to the doctor. This will cost nothing for a pensioner but about $70-$37 = $33 for the average person (Medicare rebate). This means the cost of the Epipen is $38.30 + $33 = $71.30 for the normal taxpayer. The pen lasts for a year as does a prescription so this will require an annual renewal even if the pen is unused.
Peter Wasser
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
modified 24-Aug-16 20:57pm.
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Wow, I stand corrected. I was told recently that most life-saving drugs are to be given at no cost, but it appears that it's applicable only if it were administered in a public hospital while an eligible (medicare) patient is admitted.
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Indeed, most patients (who are covered by Medicare only) admitted to a public hospital do not pay anything for their entire stay. In fact they are not even allowed to bring their own medications or self administer while in hospital. It is all provided by the public health system.
Peter Wasser
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
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I also heard today on the news that it only costs approx. $1 US, to produce the chemical in the pen, which adds to the controversy.
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I don't think there is any relationship between the cost of manufacture and the retail price of drugs, seems to be whatever they can get away with. There is an astonishingly large variation between countries for some drugs.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH
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In Hobbitland, NZ$120 per pen. But if it's used by a patient as treatment for an anaphylactic reaction caused by an injury covered by ACC (our taxpayer funded universal accident insurance scheme) they'll cover the cost.
And if you have private health cover your provider may reimburse the cost.
So varies from sort-of-free to not-free-at-all...
If your neighbours don't listen to The Ramones, turn it up real loud so they can.
“We didn't have a positive song until we wrote 'Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue!'” ― Dee Dee Ramone
"The Democrats want my guns and the Republicans want my porno mags and I ain't giving up either" - Joey Ramone
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I wonder why it is so cheap?
Since drug company in the US can charge whatever price they want and some have no competition and the US health department is forbidden by law to bargain...
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Because Ill people must be able to buy them ! If they are not able to, they'll die and you lose customers.
Ill people with long-term diseases who are able to pay for their drugs are cash cows.
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true that! 
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The price after National Insurance's subvention seems to be ~55 USD in Hungary, this is the price I should pay to buy it. Possibly some people can get it for free.
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10-20 € if not prescripted (aka: independently taken precautions), 1-2 € if prescripted.
That's what taxes are for and the biggest costs for our SSN come from organized crime (a normal siringe costs 1c, in southern Italy they account 5c... from the same company with the same selling price) and scams like fake cancer cures from Literature graduates. Still it's cheaper this way and all in all the Italian hospital system ain't as bad as we think compared to the rest of the world.
The real problem are the queues to access the SSN treatments and diagnosis - from 6 months to 2 years even for threatening situations. We have to thank all the 65+, as they have free access to the medical system and usually are hypocondriacs, and the extension to every clandestine immigrant of the SSN free of charge.
GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP. -- TNCaver
When I was six, there were no ones and zeroes - only zeroes. And not all of them worked. -- Ravi Bhavnani
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This is not surprising. I suppose you heard about this [^]also.
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I remember that. The news was calling the guy "The most hated person in America" and the little S**t's smug testimony to congress only made it worse.
if (Object.DividedByZero == true) { Universe.Implode(); }
Meus ratio ex fortis machina. Simplicitatis de formae ac munus. -Foothill, 2016
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Foothill wrote: Recently the news outlets here have been running stories on the increasing prices of life saving drugs, like the EpiPen[^].
Here in US they are charging $600 for a pack of two. I am curious to what the rest of the world pays for EpiPens.
Here[^] you go, an Australia article on it.
Michael Martin
Australia
"I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible."
- Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
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The tone of that article makes me believe the rest of the world also has WTF!? feelings on this. Thanks.
if (Object.DividedByZero == true) { Universe.Implode(); }
Meus ratio ex fortis machina. Simplicitatis de formae ac munus. -Foothill, 2016
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Don't fall victim to knee-jerk opinion. This is a well researched overview of the whole EpiPen controversy. As usual, the issue is never as simple and black-and-white as people think...
Stonekettle Station[^]
Cheers,
Mike Fidler
"I intend to live forever - so far, so good." Steven Wright
"I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met." Also Steven Wright
"I'm addicted to placebos. I could quit, but it wouldn't matter." Steven Wright yet again.
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That was an interesting, albiet a bit lengthy, article. I do agree with the author on several points. The thing that gets me is that we all know that congress is a problem. I can vote against the incumbents with every election but, until the other half of voters do too, we will keep sending the same ineffectual people to Washington DC.
if (Object.DividedByZero == true) { Universe.Implode(); }
Meus ratio ex fortis machina. Simplicitatis de formae ac munus. -Foothill, 2016
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Agreed. And gerrymandering and voter suppression and unrestricted donations and lobbyists, ...ad nauseam, all work to slow, if not prevent, progress.
That being said, it's never an excuse to not vote.
Cheers,
Mike Fidler
"I intend to live forever - so far, so good." Steven Wright
"I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met." Also Steven Wright
"I'm addicted to placebos. I could quit, but it wouldn't matter." Steven Wright yet again.
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We deal with a lot of text on CodeProject and it can be a major PITA. Beyond that we also deal with general HTML related issues such as parsing content and dealing with URLs.
@florianrappl descended from the Mount and gave us AngleSharp[^] and for that I owe him a beer. The best HTML/CSS parsing and, frankly, the best URL parser I've yet seen.
![Beer | [beer]](https://codeproject.freetls.fastly.net/script/Forums/Images/beer.gif)
cheers
Chris Maunder
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