Truth About EpiPen’s Availability For Poor Minorities

The regularly increasing cost of the drug has been a stumbling block for the less privileged in our society.

The ease of access to EpiPen, a life-saving medical tool, which is used by people with severe allergies, has never come under scrutiny until it becomes a problem for white folks. The recent hike in the price of the drug has since brought about complaints even from white affluent families.

The issue was never looked into by the system, as the  lack of access to reasonably priced medicine remained merely a problem for the less fortunate population. But now the situation became so urgent that even a son of a U.S senator, who needs epinephrine to survive, has to come to terms with the recent changes.

In 8 years the price of anti-allergy EpiPen has increased by 400 percent and very few salaries can keep up with such drastic price increase.

According to researchers at Northwestern University, Children in the lowest income stratum require 2.5 times the amount of emergency department and hospitalization costs as a result of their food allergy than the children from the families with higher income.

“Affordable access to specialty care, medications and allergen-free foods are very important to keep all food allergic children safe. This shows disparities exist in care for low-income children with food allergy,” lead researcher Dr. Ruchi Gupta said. “The first-line management for food allergy is prevention, but costs for special foods and epinephrine auto-injectors can be a barrier for many families.”

This situation concerns Black people more than all the others because for them it’s not just an issue of the lack of money or deprivation from affordable medical care, but one life-threatening problem in the long row.

The issue of allergy may seem to some less significant than the issue of police brutality. If you think so, you are wrong – allergy can torture and kill too, and sometimes it kills quite quickly. And once again as in the times of slavery African-Americans are forced to allow exploiting them in order to protect their own lives and the lives of their children.

Ensure to visit this page for all exclusive news and updates. Kindly SHARE this article on any social media of your choice.

Source: The Root