Epi Reminder, a nifty app using trusted technology makes it possible to crowd source near by epinephrine in the case of anaphylaxis emergencies. Call us intrigued.
Keeping Track of your EAIs
By Toni Taylor January 20, 2023
Our association is always watching for new ideas, innovations and technology helping individuals and family members with life-threatening allergies. We know from first-hand experience how much support people at risk for anaphylaxis really need every day.
In pursuit of our shared goal of not another life lost to life threatening allergies, the focus of the Epi Near You New York program is broad based availability of epinephrine. This includes teaching everyone in New York State how to recognize when and how to administer it.
The health exchanges created in response to the passage of the Affordable Care Act have been very helpful in helping more people get access to affordable health care. Many of the lower cost plans have high deductibles, often increasing the cost of EAIs for families managing life threatening allergies.
With the new year, Neri was shocked to learn that a twin pack of the exact same epinephrine would cost her $600, meaning her out-of-pocket costs would balloon 20-fold to $2,400.
“It was a little embarrassing to say, ‘I can’t do this right now,’” Neri told NBC News.
The epinephrine itself had not risen in price. What happened is that Neri’s family had switched to a high-deductible health insurance plan to save money. Monthly payments are generally lower with such plans but their deductibles — the amount you must spend before insurance coverage kicks in — is much higher, leaving families responsible for thousands of dollars each year before certain costs — often epinephrine auto-injectors — are covered.
Albuterol and epinephrine are both vital medications for the immediate treatment of life-threatening attacks of asthma and anaphylaxis. While many states permit central school systems to stock non-patient specific doses in case of emergencies, the schools and other entities have an unwarranted fear of liability. Read this article to better understand those fears and consider how the community can encourage entities to stock both of these medications.
Although asthma is one of the most common respiratory conditions for children, kids don’t always carry their inhalers, or may not even know they have asthma. State legislatures have implemented stock inhaler programs to ensure that schools have an asthma reliever, such as albuterol, which can be used by any child experiencing respiratory distress in the school setting. A new study being presented at this year’s American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting in Louisville, KY, shows that even in states with strong stock inhaler/albuterol laws, school administrators and prescribing clinicians fear liability in prescribing and administering the stock inhalers.
While we wait for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for a skin patch immunotherapy for toddlers with peanut allergies, allergists and scientists have important new research showing how this patch could be used by individuals at risk for peanut allergy. In conversation with Helio, Dr. Matthew Greenhawt reports on "the incredible potential of epicutaneous therapy" for infants and young children. Broad based distribution of the patch is still several years away. In the meantime, read more about this research and the very promising possibilities.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Epicutaneous immunotherapy conferred a significant response after 12 months among children aged 1 to 3 years with peanut allergy, according to results of the phase 3 randomized, double-blind EPITOPE study. These results were presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting.
“There are very little published data regarding immunotherapy in infants and toddlers,” Matthew Greenhawt, MD, MBA, MSc, director of the food challenge and research unit at Children’s Hospital Colorado, told Healio. “Recently, the IMPACT study (sponsored by the Immune Tolerance Network) showed that peanut oral immunotherapy, using a 12% light-roast peanut flour, was effective in desensitizing this population.”
In an anaphylaxis emergency, epinephrine is THE physician recommended first line medication! No other treatment counteracts all the dangerous symptoms of anaphylaxis as quickly and effectively as epinephrine. But because epinephrine is administered with an auto injector (EAI) device which has a needle and requires an intermuscular injection, some doctors are reluctant to prescribe the device. Patients are also needlessly afraid to use one. Schools and other entities who are permitted to stock epinephrine are afraid to do so. It's a paradox that could cost someone's life. Our Epi Near You New York program addresses the issue of fear of epinephrine. Read more about how we can educate doctors to prescribe epinephrine sooner in the diagnostic process.
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — Nearly half of adults with food allergies have not been prescribed an epinephrine autoinjector (EAI) by their physician, according to survey results presented here at the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (ACAAI) 2022 Annual Meeting.
Only 1 in 4 adults with food allergies say they have access to an EAI. Epinephrine is the only treatment that can halt anaphylaxis and reduce the risk of negative effects associated with food allergies.
The use of EAIs is therefore critical for people with severe food allergies. However, the new research suggests that many adults with these allergies have problems accessing or using this potentially lifesaving treatment.
