THE EPI-PEN CONTROVERSY AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT

A pharmaceutical firm run by Senator Joe Manchin's (D-WV) daughter had recently been roundly criticized for jacking up the emergency anti-allergenic device "Epi-Pen". The device is designed to deliver about two bucks worth of epinepherine (synthetic adrenaline) to block allergic reactions to bee stings, foods, etc.

The injectors come in a set  of two, and used to cost 40-60 dollars until Manchin's daughter got her hands on the company. The price was jacked up to six HUNDRED dollars per set. And now various Congresspersons and Senators and advocacy groups all have their tits in an uproar about life-saving technology being "gouged".  

Relax, idiots. There's a very simple way of putting the EpiBandits in their place. It's called the "free market".  

See, the "Epi-Pen" is patented. But know what ISN'T patented? Epinepherine, that's what. And there is a device that is in the public domain that anyone can manufacture. It's called a "styrette".  

A styrette is a small, collapsible tube similar to a toothpaste tube (but much smaller) with a sterile hypodermic needle at the end. Ever see those WWII shows where the medic uses one of those to inject morphine into a wounded soldier? They'd work just dandy with epinephirine, too. So. 

A styrette would cost about (high-ball estimate) four bucks to manufacture and fill with two bucks worth of epinepherine. sell them for 25 dollars a pair (packed in a double-compartment container the size of a lip balm tube) and double your money. Just as effective at 1/24th the price.  

And if the government would get out of the way and allow styrettes to be sold OTC with a signature the way BronkAid and Sudafed are, there'd be lots less hassle, equaling lots more sales. Lots of asthmatics could use a jolt of epinephirine in an emergency, too.

All somebody out there needs to do is start churning out epi styrettes. That'll teach those Epi-Pen gougers, without need for government blowhards and a herd of money-grubbing so-called do-gooders.