The Epinepherin Auto-Injector, which you may know as the EpiPen, is a medical device that prevents the deadly effects of anaphylaxis, which is the result of an allergic reaction. For a myriad of Americans, the EpiPen is an essential gadget that can become a life saver in nightmare circumstances. However, this gadget just became a little harder to obtain because Mylan, the company who produces the EpiPen in a monopoly, recently raised its price by about 500% to a whopping $600 for two EpiPens. This dramatic price spike has sparked the debate of whether drug companies should be able to raise their drug's prices considering they may be essential to someone livelihood. But to me this should not be focused on ethics; it should be centered on the fact that its our very own government's fault that these prices have risen and Americans are unable to afford them.

Mylan is a company that has been providing everyday Americans with miraculous discounts since they produce and sell generic, yet exact duplications of over-the-counter or prescription drugs--but at 10% of the price. In fact, Mylan is so selfless that they only make about 8 cents per every dollar sold. So why did they increase the price of EpiPen by an absurd amount? Because business is business. Mylan has to be able to fund research on new drugs, they have to be able to pay for the production of drugs, they have to be able to pay employees and other expenses. Otherwise, they cannot provide Americans with these crucial discounts since they will no longer exist! Because EpiPen is by far Mylan's top seller and because EpiPen is such an inelastic product that is a necessity for someone's life, it was obvious which product had to become more profitable for the company.

Now with the understanding why Mylan had to increase the price of EpiPen, let us talk about why its government's fault. If you cannot afford to spend $300 on an EpiPens that can and will save your life, you should be on Medicaid, the government sponsored free health insurance given to low income individuals. And Medicaid should pay for these EpiPens since it will actually save them money. It saves them money since if an individual has an allergic reaction, but does not have an EpiPen they will be put on an ambulance and rushed to a hospital. This hospital trip will cost thousands, and the health insurance company will have to pay that bill. Thus, the health insurance company can avoid this immense bill by spending $600 on EpiPens for the individual. But, obviously this is not happening, otherwise this issue would not be debated. Therefore, the government has to ensure health care is provided to all impoverished individuals and then make sure the essential health products/services are being provided to this people through this free insurance. And if Medicaid is not doing this, then government needs to combat the problem immediately. To me, we should not blame Mylan, because they need a way to continue their business, we should aim our focus on the government and its health care plans.