Down With The EpiPen: Will This $10 Alternative Take Over For Treating Allergies

Does your child have allergies? If they do, you’ve probably heard about the steadily growing cost of the EpiPen…

But now, a Miami Valley doctor is telling the parents the alternatives to the expensive EpiPen.

The Chief Medical Officer and Emergency Medicine Physician at Ft. Hamilton Hospital is Dr. Marcus Romanello. And is all too aware of just how intimidating it can be for parents to have children with allergies.

“I have a child, my oldest is actually allergic to tree nuts and has had anaphylactic reactions before and we’ve had to use his EpiPen before,” said Dr. Romanello. “The number of children with food allergies has spiked over the past decade or so.”

He says he then ‘took note’ of the alarmingly quick rate of increase in the price of the EpiPens.

“The sudden rise in cost is alarming because I worry about parents who are literally having to choose between carrying a life-saving device and putting food on the table,” Dr. Romanello says.

b11e337d-d1ff-4044-aa3c-b77a4e4584b8-large16x9_825epipenalternativeHe also wants to let the parents know that they can save literally hundreds of dollars on helping their kids with allergies.

“I paid $5.89, cash price for this (bottle of epinephrine), no insurance required,” says Dr. Romanello.

Imagine that! Not even 6 bucks for the possibly life-saving medicine. Just add an tin of Altoid and a syringe and guess what?You’ve just gotten an epinephrine injector kit for less than $10.

“Attach the needle. Pop the top and draw up the prescribed amount,” said Dr. Romanello.

 

“It does require some degree of medical comfort with a needle and syringe, drawing up the appropriate dose. If someone were to draw up a little too much, not an issue. In a setting of anaphylactic reaction too much is not going to hurt,” Dr. Romanello said.

Romanello hopes that this will benefit families who would possibly think about just saving some expired EpiPens that have passed the expiration date, in order to possibly save a bunch cash…