Epi pen price increase rant

A word of caution:If you don't want to hear me complain, skip this post.There will be whining but it's a whine of injustice.My oldest son Aidan was nearly a year old when we found out that he had several life threatening food allergies.We were flying on a plane to visit my in-laws when I ate some creamed corn.{remember the days when they used to feed you on a long flight?}I kissed Aidan on the cheek and his face started to get bumps on it, sort of like acne.When he was 9 months old we attempted to give him yogurt as one of his first foods.Again, his face began to swell up.Mostly because babies don't tend to get food in their mouth as much as they get it on their faces!We talked to his small town pediatrician who thought for sure that Aidan must be allergic to the laundry detergent.  You know, because food allergies were so very uncommon 15 years ago.After a trip to an allergist who poked the living day lights out of him, we found out that Aidan was severely allergic to milk, eggs and peanuts.Shell fish was a possibility too but because he already got so many pokes, we just elected to just avoid any and all shell fish just in case.We started carrying an epi pen because of his anaphalactic reaction to these three known foods.In the 14 years since we have had a prescription to an epi pen we have never had to use it.Every year it's looked at as a sort of life insurance.Something you buy into and pay money for but that you hope that you don't need.Year after year though we are finding our "life insurance" going up at astronomical rates!10 years ago we could fill the epi pen prescriptions for around $25.I get inflation and all, but the current price is ridiculous!Last year the price of an epi pen 2 pack {since 2011, they no longer sell them individually}was $249.  A price I had to pay completely out of pocket.This year as I was pricing them out {I called 5 different pharmacy's} the price was anywhere from $310-$380.That is {on the low end} a $60 price increase in one years time.I took to Facebook to rant about the price of the epi pen last year and several friends this year sent my friend Anna's blog post on how to get free epi pens.Free epi pens?  Sign me up!I did everything that she said in hopes of taking advantage of the "free" coupon by the expiration date of 12-31-13.I even told several friends about the "free" coupon, and all of them said that by golly it worked!Aidan's epi pen expires in February, so I headed in to the pharmacy today to make sure I took full advantage of the coupon and that I had the most current epi pen that would make it to the next year.You see, the epi pen expires each year.12 months, that's all you get...if you are lucky!I can fill the prescription in December, but the brand new epi pen I just payed full price for could expire in September.Through the years, I have learned to ask for the newest epi pen on the shelves and sometimes I get 12-13 months out of a prescription, and sometimes I get 6 months.My son is in high school and since an epi pen is a prescription medicine, he has to have a nurses plan each school year.  The school by law will not let him attend school or any outside events without a current epi pen.  Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that because of budget cuts, our school shares a nurse.  The nurse isn't at his school during lunch time, the prime time when Aidan would be experiencing anaphalaxis.The fact that a nurse with the medication isn't available doesn't seem to be an issue, though the expiration date of the medication does.  Only because of one word. Liability.Last year, the expiration date was an issue because while I was in search for a cheaper epi pen his current epi pen at school expired.  During the weekend he had a school FBLA state championship he was competing in and he was told that he couldn't attend without a current prescription.  His prescription was on order from an on-line pharmacy but because it wasn't going to get there until a day after the old epi pen expired, he wasn't allowed to attend the trip.  I had to cancel the prescription order from the on-line company and pay $100 more for a new prescription from a local pharmacy just so he could seamlessly attend the trip.Which had me thinking, does an epi pen really "expire" after it's expiration date?In March of 2013 a teenage college student accidentally ate a cookie with nuts in it.  His parents were advised by the 911 operator to not use the expired epi pen that they had on hand.  The family used a neighbor's epi pen but by that time, it was too late.  The teen died later that evening.In 2000 a group of Canadian researchers collected expired epi pens and tried to examine the potency of the epinephrine in them.  While the studies found that the amount of epinephrine in an unexpired epi pen was higher than that of an expired epi pen, there was still a surprisingly high potency of epinephrine in the expired epi pens.  Epi pens 5-7 years past their expiration date had 70% potency, while those 2-3 years past their expiration date had a 90% potency rate of the original dosage.  The conclusion from this study and from the untimely death of a teenager is that old epinephrine is better than no epinephrine.All of this has me thinking that the expiration date on an epi pen could potentially be extended, requiring allergic individuals to have to buy every 18 months instead of less than every year.I am thankful that over the years I have purchased 28 epi pens and never one time had to use them.I am thankful, but annoyed.Each year I buy something I am {hopefully} never going to use and continue to pay more and more money for it.  Of course, that one time that we will need it I will be thankful that I kept purchasing that epi pen each year, though my wallet will be thousands of dollars smaller.The prevalence of food allergies is on the rise with rates doubling and tripling in many countries over the past 10-15 years.  Is there any coincidence to the fact that the epi pen price continues to rise each year just as the amount of people needing the epi pen continues to increase?  Our family has a high deductible health insurance plan.Prescription medication is an out of pocket expense that we have to pay 100% of.As I mentioned before, I call around to various pharmacy's because like any product that a store carries, the price varies from pharmacy to pharmacy.Each pharmacy tech I spoke with made an audible gasp or said an empathetic word when they realized the price I would have to shell out this year for my son's epi pen.I have a small voice, but I have a voice.I'm frustrated at the rising cost of this medication.Since this is the only medication that we refill on a regular basis, I wonder if other medications are increasing in price at the same alarming rate.Are there people not refilling this prescription because of cost?Quite honestly, if it wasn't forced on me to have a current prescription of an epi pen for my son for school, I would probably only renew the prescription every 18 month to 2 years.Am I the only one in this boat?Anyone want to whine with me?