How Much Should Two Epipens Cost? What’s a Reasonable Expiry Date?

morse on 27/03/2021 - 18:20

Found out my kid is meant to have two EpiPens (epipen jr), one for his daycare one to go wherever he does, as prescribed by a specialist.

I can’t find much info online as to how much these should cost.

The script is for 2 pens. I can see chemist warehouse lists them at $79.99 but it doesn’t state whether this is for 1 or 2 pens (probably one) https://www.chemistwarehouse.com.au/buy/65429/epipen-adrenal…

Does anyone have experience buying EpiPens and what the going rate is? Also what would a typical expiry date be at the time of purchase (eg 12months? 24months?) I’m kinda hoping these won’t ever be used so wanting the longest possible expiry date.

Health & Beauty Epipen

Comments

  • brendanm on 27/03/2021 - 18:34
    +5

    Honestly, for your son, for an EpiPen, who cares how much it costs. I'd just go into chemist warehouse, and ask them to fill the script, then pay for it.

    • morse on 27/03/2021 - 19:03
      +2

      I knew someone would say this and it’s very true, though he’s never had an anaphylactic type reaction, apparently one of the allergens he’s allergic to is unpredictable and can be just a rash or life threatening - sounds bad but both his dad and I have been a bit relaxed about the whole thing since he’s only ever had mild symptoms.

      I’m more worried that they will sell the stock with the shortest expiry date and I’m not sure how long they are meant to last. I could ask the pharmacist at work on Monday but probably am meant to buy ASAP since we were told yesterday.

      • brendanm on 27/03/2021 - 19:23
        +3

        Still, anything could happen, and it's very cheap for peace of mind. 18 months from manufacture apparently.

    • oscargamer on 27/03/2021 - 19:38
      +5

      My initial reaction was this, but then I thought "why not save money / get more shelf life"

      I shop for food (which is as necessary as an epipen - maybe more so) and when I shop I like to not waste my money

      Same for the OP surely !

      • brendanm on 27/03/2021 - 20:17
        +2

        While I generally agree, it's a once per year purchase, and chemist warehouse generally has the best prices, as well as being the most popular, which means it will have a high turnover of stock, and likely the freshest stock with longest date until expiry.

    • matyr on 27/03/2021 - 19:54
      +2

      It'll be the exact same product no matter where you buy it so there's zero reason to not try and save money by researching and shopping around. Sorry OP i don't know anything about epipens, just wanted to say that there's nothing wrong with shopping around for them (as long as you still get them asap)

  • shrek4 on 27/03/2021 - 18:38
    +8

    The script should be PBS covered so about $30 each. The link you posted is the ‘over the counter’ price without a script. Many workplaces and schools will carry a generic one just in case and pay the non PBS script price.

    Oh and I’m not certain but from memory expiry is every 12m.

    If your child has to carry it with them also consider how you are going to manage that. E.g. pouch, bum bag, cooler bag (they have to be kept cool, so don’t store it in the car).

    • morse on 27/03/2021 - 19:10

      Oh thanks! That’s way cheaper than I expected with PBS.

      Thanks for the info re pouches, not sure which brand to buy - we’re in Queensland so it’s quite normal for an indoor room temp to be over 25c. I’m guessing lots of other people have done this in QLD before though so we should be able to find something that works.

      • matyr on 27/03/2021 - 19:59
        +2

        Yeah with the 25c thing. I'm also in Qld and it's regularly well over 30c. My meds and many vitamins and things like that say keep below 25c but it's just impossible in some places unless you have aircon on 24/7. Does anyone here know about this stuff and what the effects of having it over that temp actually are? Will it decrease the potency over time gradually? Or is it more severe? I've always stressed about this because my most important medication is supposed to be below 25 degrees which i can't do but i also can't refrigerate it

        • morse on 27/03/2021 - 20:14
          +2

          I’m going to find more info out on this as I don’t really get how the insulated pouches work when the air temp can be 30c even over night and the meds can’t go in the fridge… I work with a few pharmacists so will ask and feedback what I find out.

          • matyr on 27/03/2021 - 20:27

            @morse: Oh that would be awesome. Thanks. I've tried to find out online but could never really find any answers

          • matyr on 02/04/2021 - 17:39

            @morse: Hey Morse did you find out anything from the pharmacists?

    • resubaehtgnolhcs on 27/03/2021 - 21:48
      +2

      so about $30 each

      Non concessional PBS co-payment amount is currently $41.30 … it was $34.20 a decade ago (2011)!

      memory expiry is every 12m

      Correct. Expiry on EpiPens is 12mth … so as long as the pen has not been sitting on the pharmacists shelf for months, you should get somewhere near 12mths for your pen expiry.

      • CMH on 27/03/2021 - 23:25
        +2

        They don't tend to spend more than a month on the shelf in the pharmacy I work at.

        Non concessional PBS co-payment amount is currently $41.30

        I'll confirm for 2021. Bear in mind it goes up on the 1st of Jan every year. Or at least I don't remember it ever not going up.

        And for those who needs to know, Concession price is $6.60 (with a possible $1 discount, making it $5.60).

        And if you've reached safety net there is no charge.

        Also, for some reason there's been a lot of shortages with Epipens lately…. NEVER throw away your old Epipen until you get a replacement. A slightly out of date Epipen is better than no Epipen.

  • pegaxs on 27/03/2021 - 19:17
    +2

    I need these for my daughter and it’s annoying because they have an expiration date of about 12 months on average for the ones we buy.

    We buy ours and it’s always in pairs and $80 is pretty much the usual ($40-ish each) from memory. I don’t think you will get them much cheaper because they are on the PBS and they are not allowed to discount them if they are sold on a script.

    • CMH on 27/03/2021 - 23:28
      -2

      That's weird, because if it is a PBS prescription it should be $41.30 for 2021.

      $40 each on a private prescription is below cost.

      Not sure what's happening in your case there. I'm guessing the doctor is writing scripts for single Epipens instead of the usual two.

      • pegaxs on 28/03/2021 - 08:23

        $40-ish each

        Last time I bought some was last year, due to replace them soon. And so terribly sorry I misled people on this forum by quoting $1.30 less than their actual current cost. I hope that people are still able to afford the massive difference in price after my deceptive comment above.

        • CMH on 28/03/2021 - 09:56

          I meant $41.30 for both if under PBS.

  • Hiroko on 27/03/2021 - 19:25
    +5

    we have 4 epipen jr’s for my daughter.
    im not going to go into detail why we have so many but we get the first two under pbs for $40ea
    then any subsequent ones at full price.
    in regards to expiry dates we usually call around to see who stocks a batch with the longest expiry (usually 10-12 months).
    We carry the epipens in an insulated bag we purchased from The Allergy Shop online.

  • aroundme on 27/03/2021 - 20:50
    +3

    Every so often, they can get out of stock, especially at the start of school year. So try to stock up before or after start of school year.

    Find a smaller pharmacy that's willing to order them in. Once ordered in, the expiration date should be for about 12months. The larger chains tend to sell what they have, and some may have been on the shelf for a few months.

    Also sign up to https://www.epiclub.com.au/ to be reminded, and get a sample epipen from the site (I assume they still do this). You do not want your first time to be an actual event. The samples are good to get into the swing of things.

    All the best!

  • [Deactivated] on 27/03/2021 - 20:57
    -1

    Arm and a leg?

  • bobokingdom on 27/03/2021 - 21:23
    +3

    The price listed is for 1 Epipen. For 1 script (1 or 2 pens), you just pay for PBS which is slightly less than $40. If you need to use 1 pen for an emergency, you will ask your GP for a replacement EpiPen, which will be PBS (<$40). If nothing happened before the pen expiry date, you ask the GP for a Script for 2 pens and it will cost <$40 to get them replaced. For the recently expired pens, you keep them with you (school or daycare will not take them anymore as they expire), but in an real emergency, you can use it as a secondary shot. (I was told an expired pen is better than no pen in an EMERGENCY situation).

    • resubaehtgnolhcs on 27/03/2021 - 21:52
      +1

      which is slightly less than $40

      Non concessional PBS co-payment amount is currently $41.30

      • bobokingdom on 27/03/2021 - 22:12

        OK, my next pens will be $41.30! (I just checked, last year was $40 and the year before was $38.50)

        • resubaehtgnolhcs on 27/03/2021 - 22:21
          +1

          Yeah, the amount goes up on 1 January every year (indexed to CPI) …

          • SnoozeAndLose on 27/03/2021 - 23:32

            @resubaehtgnolhcs: Didn't last year CPI go negative?

            • Trance N Dance on 28/03/2021 - 01:21

              @SnoozeAndLose: YE June 2020 CPI was -0.3% but YE September was 0.7% and YE December is 0.9%.
              I don't think this year's PBS co-pay went up. According to pbs.gov.au, $41.30 has been the co-pay since Jan 1 2020. Which would align itself with the policy of the co-pay being adjusted for CPI (unless CPI is negative).

              • bobokingdom on 28/03/2021 - 07:18

                @Trance N Dance: I bought my set of EpiPen on 8Mar2020, and it was $40.00 (Chemist Warehouse). It seems Chemist Warehouse is not charging $41.30 but $40.30 instead in 2021: https://www.chemistwarehouse.com.au/scripts

                • Trance N Dance on 28/03/2021 - 09:54
                  +2

                  @bobokingdom: Pharmacists are allowed to discount $1 off PBS scripts at their leisure. I was talking about the standard total co-pay for non-concession patients because not all pharmacies elects to pass on the further $1 savings. So if that's the case Chemist Warehouse should still be charging $40.30 for an Epipen Jr under PBS script.

  • askme69 on 28/03/2021 - 10:03
    +2

    Spent thousands on them over 12 years for my son. Yeah they are expensive and we had 5 in rotation. Home, school, grand parents etc etc.

    Always ask for the longest expiry, otherwise go elsewhere as we were caught out with some only having 1 month left.

    Anyway, got him retested when he turned 13, no longer allergic to tree nuts ie: cashews. Could eat peanuts fine though.

    • morse on 28/03/2021 - 11:33

      Oh that’s good to hear (not the thousands you spent but that he outgrew the allergies). The allergist said he’s likely to outgrow the egg allergy which is very rarely anaphylactic anyway, but not the one random nut that he’s allergic to, so it’s nice to think it might be possible to outgrow it.

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