Why Competition Hasn't Brought Down The High Price Of Snakebite Treatment

Dr. Steven Curry, a medical toxicologist and professor at the University of Arizona, has treated snakebites since the 1980s — long enough to remember when the treatment represented its own form of misery.

The first medication Curry used sometimes caused an immune reaction called serum sickness — patients broke out in a severe, itchy rash. Then, about 20 years ago, the snake antivenin CroFab entered the market and dramatically reduced the adverse reactions associated with treatment, he says.

But the drug came with a sky-high price tag. In one case reported by NPR and Kaiser Health News, an Indiana hospital last summer charged nearly $68,000 for four vials of CroFab.