Another lifesaving drug’s price has skyrocketed. We shouldn’t be surprised

To the editor: The July 17 article, “As need grows for painkiller overdose treatment, companies raise prices,” should surprise me. But it doesn’t, because after reading about the huge salaries of California’s corporate CEOs in a previous article, nothing surprises me.

What person on Earth needs or deserves (Albert Einstein maybe) $53 million a year to live on? It’s shocking.

Drug manufacturer Kaleo’s increase of one drug’s price from $690 to $4,500 within two years borders on criminal activity, in my mind. All the fuss nationally about raising the minimum wage of workers sounds ludicrous compared to CEO pay and drug costs.

The levels of greed and narcissism are off the charts these days. I was taught that charity begins at home, and home for me is the United States, so let’s all take care of one another if we have the means to do so.

Sandra Kelemen, Palm Desert

..

To the editor: When our insurance co-pay for Kaleo’s Ezvio was about $1,500 for the $4,500 retail price, the pharmacy suggested I call the manufacturer. In the article in Sunday’s paper regarding Ezvio and other opioid rescue drugs, a representative of the manufacturer said that virtually no one pays for the drug, because they have rebates and coupons.

But when I called the manufacturer, I was told that, because we have insurance that helps cover the cost of prescription drugs, there were no programs that would help to pay for this drug.

They charge what they want because they can. We pay what we can, and when we can’t, we do without. And there is no government regulations that would stop this kind of exploitation capitalism.

Healthcare, like public schools, should not be run by for-profit businesses. This is a terrible shame.

Carol Underberger, Covina

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook