FDA extends EpiPens expiration dates during drug shortage

The FDA is extending certain EpiPen expiration dates to combat the shortage.

The shortage has made it tough for some parents of children who suffer from severe allergic reactions and who need the product with kids back in school.

The shortage didn't start recently. It actually started back in May. But there's been a lot more focus on it now as parents stock up at the start of the school year and are going through great lengths to find the product that might be needed to save their kids’ lives.

Megan Brunson's 11-year-old, Sam, has always kept a close eye on food labels since he has a nut allergy. She keeps an EpiPen for him both at home and at school.

“Right before school starts, probably about a week or ten days before school starts, I’ll go ahead and get the refill on the EpiPen so the school nurse has one,” she said.

But this year, that wasn’t easy.

“I just received a phone call from the mail order pharmacy that I use and they said that they didn't have any in stock,” Brunson said. “And it really raised concern for me because they're a national supplier mail order pharmacy.”

Brunson called dozens of locations at first with no luck. She went as far to call family out of state to check with pharmacies in their area. She also called Mylan, the pharmaceutical company behind the EpiPen device.

“They told me the closest EpiPen is in Houston, which is quite a drive for a mom to go pickup an EpiPen,” she said.

EpiPen's manufacturer has cited a "manufacturing issue" as a reason behind the shortage.

Just last week, the FDA approved the sale of a new competitor to EpiPen, but it won't hit store shelves for months. The FDA has also now extended expiration dates for certain EpiPen products by four months to help deal with the issue.

Dr. Robert Simonson is an emergency director at Methodist Dallas Medical Center. He says there are alternatives.

“Just tell the doctor who is writing the script, ‘Can you write me for generics?’” the doctor said. “That way, you avoid the pharmacist having to hunt the doctor down, who may or may not find them to get the EpiPen changed over to generic.”

Brunson found another product, but he says it would have cost $700. Eventually, she found one covered by insurance at an independent local pharmacy.

“I kept pursuing and pursuing it like moms do to get what their kids need,” she said. “And I’m really nervous though for those children that don’t have the opportunities to either spend the money or to have the time to look for something.”