Food-Allergic Adults, Advocacy, and Visibility: An Activist Manifesto

[rae_beta]

(x-posted to nopeanut_adults)

Glossary of Terms:
LTFA - Life-Threatening Food Allergies or Life-Threateningly Food Allergic
FA - Food Allergies or Food-AllergicRecently, someone on a food allergy community I frequent asked (in context of yet another "Allergy laws are stupid and paranoid and making kids dependent hypochondriacs" article), posted the following

Comments

[kadymae]

epipens cost hundreds of dollars without medical insurance

Why the fuck is this? -- I ask as part of your focus for activism.

1) One dose injection technology has been in use since WWII -- soldiers had morphine syrettes as part of their standard field kit.

2) The ingredient in an epi-pen is adrenaline/epinephrine, the same active ingredient in an athsmatic's fast-acting "rescue" inhaler, right? My husband's inhailers, being generics cost about $7 with insurance. An OTC Primatine inhaler costs $20.

So why isn't an epi-pen $10 OTC?

[rae_beta]

I imagine some of it is the mechanism, and perhaps there are weird expenses or taxes on anything that has to be disposed of specially--sharps, or hazmat, or what have you.

Mostly, though, I suspect it's that the company that manufactures it basically has a monopoly on the market.

[kadymae]

I imagine some of it is the mechanism

But the technology has been around for decades, and can't imagine that they get any kind of surcharge for disposal, because it's the user or the hospital who pays for disposal.

Insulin Injection sharps seem to be about $25 for 100.

I suspect it's that the company that manufactures it basically has a monopoly on the market.

Based on the fact that injection sharps are so cheap, the ingredient is cheap, and the technology has been around for decades? I think that yes, the provider is totally abusing the monopoly.

i am thinking about the larger issues here, but in the meantime

[maria_sputnik]

disposed of specially

do you dispose of them carefully? when mine staledate i just throw them away.