The Attorney General's Office yesterday contacted the maker of the drug used to reverse the effects of heroin and opioid painkiller overdoses, asking why its price has risen dramatically in the midst of a spike in overdose deaths.
In a letter to Amphastar Pharmaceuticals CEO Jack Zhang, First Assistant Attorney General Chris Barry-Smith noted "the number of fatalities surged to hundreds in just a few months" last year, prompting former Gov. Deval Patrick to declare a public health emergency and institute regulatory changes that made Amphastar's drug naloxone immediately available to every first responder in the state.
Since then, the price per kit, known by the brand name Narcan, which contains two doses of naloxone and an atomizer to create an "off-label" nasal spray, has soared from $44.48 last June to $101.98, said Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan.
"So many people increasingly depend on this life-saving drug," Attorney General Maura Healey told the Herald. "I don't want someone to unnecessarily profiteer from a public health crisis."
In an email yesterday, Jason Shandell, president of California-based Amphastar, said the company does not manufacture, market or sell a naloxone kit, so the prices Sullivan cited are likely charged by a distributor. But he added: "I am confident that we can assist the state of Massachusetts in a similar way that we did with New York, as we are committed to public safety and assisting the government where we can."
New York's attorney general, who two months ago lambasted Amphastar for increasing the price of naloxone, yesterday announced an agreement that provides a $6 rebate per dose on the drug's cost to first responders, and raise the rebate to match any increase in the wholesale price of naloxone over the next year.
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