MARK 3100 / FALL 2016

MARK 3100 / FALL 2016 Written Assignment #1 Due Date: Beginning of Class – Tuesday, September 27th In 2007, the pharmaceutical company, Mylan, acquired the EpiPen drug from the German company, Merck KGaA. At that time, customers could purchase the EpiPen for about $100. The auto-injector EpiPen device is used to counter emergency allergic reactions to foods and bee stings. Since the acquisition, Mylan has steadily increased the price of EpiPen. In August 2016 the consumer’s cost for an EpiPen two-pack hit $608. Consumer protests erupted in August 2106 and Mylan countered the negative publicity with news of a savings card and a soon-to-be-released generic version of the EpiPen retailing for approximately $300. Consumer advocacy groups are unimpressed and Mylan CEO Heather Bresch will testify at a congressional hearing September 21, 2016 concerning the price of EpiPen. Mylan counters that it has no control over the final retail price as it sells to pharmaceutical wholesalers who, in turn, sell to pharmacies, hospitals, etc. Additionally, Mylan notes that the changing insurance environment has now made consumers bear more of the costs of their medications. It also contends it has incurred substantial costs in bringing awareness to the issue of severe childhood allergies, donating EpiPens to certain groups, etc. The Assignment: Your assignment is to thoroughly investigate the EpiPen pricing controvery, taking into consideration the viewpoints of the various groups (e.g., Mylan, consumers, Congress, drug manufacturers in general). Ultimately, you must decide if you consider Mylan’s pricing of EpiPen to be ethical or not. Format: The paper should be typed, with one inch margins, single-spaced, using Times New Roman 12 point font. Your paper should not exceed three pages. Additional attachments (e.g., citations, diagrams, articles) are allowed and do not count towards the three-page limit. Please do not use a cover page or any form of binder; simply staple your paper in the upper left-hand corner. In the upper right-hand corner put only your six-digit student number. This ensures a blind review/grading by the course instructor. The paper should be presented in the following format using the following headings: (1) Brief Overview of the Issue (2) Factual Situation (3) Discussion / Analysis of the Factual Situation (4) Your Conclusion Brief Overview of the Issue – Simply state what is being investigated. Factual Situation – In this section you provide facts pertaining to EpiPen, its use, drug pricing in general, the positions of consumer groups, Mylan, etc. In short, provide the necessary contextual background to understand the issue from a variety of perspectives. Note that this is factual – your opinion does not belong in this section. Discussion / Analysis of the Factual Situation – This is where you evaluate the overall situation – using the facts and your interpretation of the situation – to evaluate whether the EpiPen is being priced in an ethical fashion. Your Conclusion – This should clearly state whether you think the pricing is ethically responsible or not – and why. This should be no more than a short paragraph as your major arguments should have been developed in the preceding section. The attachments section should include a “References” page. You may use any citation style. The important part is to properly cite any outside sources. Grading: Harsh but fair. This first written assignment is worth fifty (50) points. Points are awarded solely for content. It is the course instructor’s expectation that at this educational level you will turn in a paper free of grammatical and spelling errors. If not, points will be deducted from your content grade and negatively impact your paper’s final grade.