After their younger son was bitten by a rattlesnake and ended up in the pediatric intensive care unit, a San Diego couple received a huge bill. Listen to hear why antivenom is so expensive.<\/p>\n
This spring, a San Diego toddler spent two days in a pediatric intensive care unit after a rattlesnake bit his hand in his family\u2019s backyard.<\/p>\n
The bills that followed were staggering, with the lifesaving antivenom the 2-year-old needed accounting for more than two-thirds of the total cost \u2014 $213,000.<\/p>\n
Why is antivenom so expensive? One explanation is the markup hospitals add to balance overhead costs and make money. Another explanation is a lack of meaningful competition. There are only two rattlesnake antivenoms approved by the Food and Drug Administration.<\/p>\n
Stacie Dusetzina, a professor of health policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said it can be difficult to sort out drug pricing because a hospital bill is often an instrument insurers and hospitals use to negotiate prices. Patients such as the Pfeffers often get stuck in the middle.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you see the word \u2018charges,\u2019 that\u2019s a made-up number. That isn\u2019t connected at all, usually, to what the actual drug cost,\u201d Dusetzina said.<\/p>\n
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