Hey-- so I know that this has been all over the news this year with back-to-school time upon us.
I've really been heartsick about this-- I
know that there will be kids whose parents choose to
not tell the school about a child's allergy simply because they can't afford to provide "extra" autoinjectors to the school.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/as-epipen-prices-skyrocket-consumers-and-emts-resort-to-syringes-for-life-threatening-allergies/Locally, sticker-prices of twinpacks are up to about $600 a pack this year-- so for someone without prescription coverage, out of pocket costs for a set of three twinpacks (one for school, one for each parent, or home and caregiver sets-- this is pretty minimal coverage that doesn't account for a fourth or fifth set for after-school care and/or sports without a parent present); adds up to about 1800 USD.
I know that some school policies
mandate autoinjectors-- and certainly might for children to have epinephrine in classrooms rather than in a nurse's office. I can see why for self-carry, especially prior to high school.
Has anyone had luck getting a school to accept vials and syringes? I mean, they HAVE for diabetic children, so they
can, I guess. Then again, insulin isn't the same thing, since the speed of administration isn't quite the same level of critical, meaning that a nurse can keep and dispense medication as needed. Not so with asthma meds and epinephrine, or... seizure meds, maybe?
I'm really wondering what parents who quite literally CANNOT afford this expense are going to do.