The Thompson family is mourning the loss of their 8-year-old son after a counterfeit EpiPen failed to work during Liam’s allergic reaction at a friends house. His parents always made him carry the EpiPen and his friend’s mother, a former nurse, administered the pen correctly. After she had realized it was not working, the mother drove Liam to the hospital, but he died in route.
Liam’s parents had bought what they thought were real EpiPens online for $40 each, but they were fake and did not contain the medication needed to save their son’s life. “We bought them online because they were so much cheaper and we live on a tight budget right now. And when they came in the mail, they looked just like the three hundred ones, so we were very happy at first,” said Mrs. Thompson. ”But then, it didn’t work. I’m still in shock. No pun intended.”
With the recent additional increase to the real EpiPens, they now cost $350 each. They use to cost $70 just 7 years ago for the same product. So, many parents have tried to buy them online from foreign countries where the price is a fraction of the cost. The Thompson’s thought they were buying the EpiPens from a Canadian pharmacy, but it was a front for a knockoff Chinese dealer who sells counterfeit medications.
A doctor at the hospital confirmed the EpiPens did not contain the needed medication. “It just looked like an EpiPen but the substance it injected was just glucose, and that won’t help someone in epileptic shock,” said the doctor. “It’s a real shame. The real ones have jumped in price so much that many poor families are looking for cheaper alternatives. I have patients ask me all the time about buying them online. I always recommend to use your local pharmacy, but I can see how the much cheaper online prices look tempting. You just don’t know what you’re getting. In this case, a young boy died because of a greedy pharmaceutical company and ill-informed parents.”
Liam was about to start up the school year, but his class will be short one more kid named Liam this year.
