Mylan's move comes amid pressure from consumers and Congress to lower the allergy drug's price. In less than 10 years, the price has risen from about $100 to more than $600 for an injector two-pack.
Consumers often blame drug companies for the rapidly rising costs of some commonly used generic drugs. But changes made by insurers influence the price of these drugs, too, it turns out.
An analysis of Medicare data shows that the more money a doctor gets from pharmaceutical companies, the more likely he or she is to prescribe brand-name medications. And that influences cost.
Patients switching to generic medicines and hard bargaining with drugmakers helped moderate spending on prescription drugs in 2015, according to Express Scripts, a manager of drug benefits.
The website Iodine has collected data about consumers' experience with prescription drugs that show generics scored highest among people who take medicines in three popular categories.
The hormone that controls blood sugar among diabetics is one of the oldest medicines used today. But more than 90 years after its discovery, a low-cost version is no longer available in the U.S.
