What's going on?

We all know EpiPens as those things that you jab into your friend with a peanut allergy in case of emergency (it�s used for other allergies too). Well, the rapidly rising price of the EpiPen is now at the centre of a political controversy that�s wiping billions off the value of its parent company, Mylan.

What does this mean?

Hillary Clinton (you might be aware, she�s running for President�) called recent price hikes of the EpiPen �outrageous, and just the latest example of a company taking advantage of its consumers.� She�s just the latest politician to take issue with Mylan this week. It�s part of a political pushback against drug companies that have significantly hiked the prices of their products (some by more than 1,000%). In Mylan�s case, the cost of the EpiPen has jumped 4-600% (depending on who you ask) over the past seven years.

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: Drug companies are vulnerable to political risk.
The political crackdown on inflated drug prices began in earnest last year. It took a big toll on the stock prices of many drug companies, including those that didn�t necessarily employ �unfair� practices (perhaps investors feared that new laws would harm even the �fair� companies). Since then, the stock prices of most drug companies have rebounded at least somewhat, but this week�s news and the reaction of Mylan�s stock price (it�s down about 10% this week) is a reminder that political risk remains high for drug companies.


For you personally: Healthcare costs have been going up.
Personal healthcare costs are expected to go up 6.5% over the next year in the US (that�s actually lower than the double-digit increases seen in previous years). Employers and insurers aren�t shouldering all of the pain (so to speak�): some of those costs are being passed on to you in the form of higher insurance deductibles and �co-paying� options. People in countries with �free� healthcare aren�t immune either: higher healthcare costs paid by the government are ultimately funded by the taxpayer. Yeah, that�s you.