rant: EpiPens are $85+ a pop

[ASusan]

and everything else about allergies is damn expensive, too.

A 2-pack ofo EpiPen Jr. cost me over $60 and insurance contributed $111.
And they wanted to give me pens that expired in April, 2011. (Yet write on the prescription label that they should be discarded after August, 2011, a year from dispensing.) I made them order new pens, and they checked with me that an expiration date of August, 2011 was ok? Like I had a choice, since the one at daycare expired last week. (Yes, I know it may still be good, but we have to play by their rules. Plus, I'd rather not take a chance, should it be needed.) And they acted like a year-out expiration date was great! "They are usually good for 9 months."

The pharmacist originally said they'd order generic, but I've never seen a generic EpiPen Jr.

And all the other stuff I buy for these allergies is not exactly budget-friendly. Coconut milk, coconut oil, coconut ice cream, coconut yogurt, gluten-free stuff, driving around to 3 different stores in town. Supplements. Doctor co-pays and all the providers who aren't covered by insurance. Gah!

Thank you for letting me spew. Feel free to add your own expense.

[rhesp1212]

Oh I feel your pain!! Both DS and i have epi pens and they are outrageous, and sadly we have no choice but to have them on hand just in case! It's not worth risking our lives to not have them around. It just sucks...what a scam!

I completely hear you on the extra food expense as well. Only DS eats a very specialized diet, thank goodness or I'd be completely broke. buying things on internet and having them shipped, or driving an hour away to get to a whole foods because they're the only place that carries the one cereal he can eat. Buying grass fed beef from a farmers market for more than double the cost of what we could buy other beef in the store at because he can't tolerate anything grain fed. It's horridly expensive!!!

I completely empathize with you!!

[sbgrace]

Yep, and twice in the last year I've left them in the vehicle and had to replace. We paid 100% each time.

My rant: we have a 6,000 out of pocket max. We have a 3,600 we pay 100% before insurance starts paying 80% deductible. My husband is a CPA for the state so this isn't self pay insurance or whatever and a big insurance pool.

The prescriptions are included in the whole thing so we pay 100% of those and then, finally, 20%. Or that's how it has been in previous years.

This year I'm paying $50 per prescription (allergy, metabolic condition meds-- no matter the dosage or cost so I pay the same for one metabolic med for a child that takes 4 x's what his brother takes) even though we've met our 3,600. They changed the policy. You pay 100% and then a set dollar amount per scrip rather than 20%. The 20% would have been way cheaper. I'm so irritated. What's the point? I figure the high deductibles are so we avoid going to the doctor. Extra penalty for meds though? They want you to forgo medication? I'm so mad.

[KimPM]

Originally Posted by ASusan

And all the other stuff I buy for these allergies is not exactly budget-friendly. Coconut milk, coconut oil, coconut ice cream, coconut yogurt, gluten-free stuff, driving around to 3 different stores in town. Supplements. Doctor co-pays and all the providers who aren't covered by insurance. Gah!

Oh I wish I could buy some food, but I have to make a lot of it because we can't usually eat store bought for one reason or another. It's kind of a luxury to be able to actually find store bought food that any of us can actually eat. Even stuff at the organic, HFS. ...and I've got these mental lists of good & bad foods that are, of course, completely different for each of the three of us. And don't EVEN get me started on lotions, soaps, medications, vitamins, and sunscreen. I've been able to find ONE, just ONE sunscreen that agrees with me, and I can only find it at ONE store. Just waiting for the day they stop selling that one, like everything else I've been able to eat or use.

[*mama moose*]

OMG, thank you for writing this thread because it made me go check my DDs epi-pen and led me to discover that it expired in MAY.....yeah, 3 months ago....mom of the year award over here

[mama1803]

I've always been annoyed by the quick expiration dates on Epi-pens. Usually I have to call around to several pharmacies to find the one that has the latest expiration date. The longest I've found in my area is 13 months from the time I filled the prescription to expiration, but many times it is like 6-9 months.

The doctor also won't issue a prescription for a new epi without an office visit first. So if we lose the Epi or leave it in the hot car or whatever and need to replace it, we have to make an appointment and pay for an office visit to get a new prescription even if it has been only a few months since the last appointment.

[ASusan]

Originally Posted by mama1803

The doctor also won't issue a prescription for a new epi without an office visit first. So if we lose the Epi or leave it in the hot car or whatever and need to replace it, we have to make an appointment and pay for an office visit to get a new prescription even if it has been only a few months since the last appointment.

Well that stinks. Our NP wrote the script to be refilled several times. Although I think if we actually had to use one, we would go to the doc.

Smart idea about calling around. (although our Kroger pharm was very willing to order a new one when I asked)

So, does anyone know if there is actually a generic EpiPen Jr?

And don't forget to use your expired ones as trainers! (although the 2-pack we just got came with a trainer.)

[LauraLoo]

Yup -- the $'s really stink.

The longest expiration date that I had was 14 months out -- and that was at Wal-Mart's pharmacy where we lived in AZ. It was a very busy store, and apparently they were turning a lot of pens in their pharmacy. The pharmacist checked the pens in front of me to make sure that I was getting at least a year.

I've had to stand firm on pens with no less than 12 months. I open the bag while I'm still at the pharmacy to check since the dr. calls the rx in. Last time I got 2 twin packs. One had an expiration of a year, and the other one was 7 months. I asked the pharmacist go back and check their inventory, and they did get another pack for me with a year on it. The pharm. tech. wasn't happy, but I told her that they were just too expensive to have to replace sooner than a year. You'd think that a pharmacist would understand that.

I would hope someone would come out with a generic!