Sarah Jessica Parker Ends Her Relationship With Mylan Over EpiPen Hike

Sarah Jessica Parker Ends Her Relationship With Mylan Over EpiPen Hike
In this Aug. 6, 2015 file photo, Sarah Jessica Parker attends the Broadway opening night of "Hamilton" in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
Jack Phillips
8/25/2016
Updated:
8/25/2016

Actress Sarah Jessica Parker announced she’s cutting ties with Mylan, the manufacturer of EpiPen, after the firm raised the price of the allergy injector to more than $500, which is a more than 400-percent hike since 2007.

“I’m left disappointed, saddened and deeply concerned by Mylan’s actions,” the 51-year-old actress wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday. “I do not condone this decision and I have ended my relationship with Mylan as a direct result of it.”

Parker noted her son, James Wilkie, needs an EpiPen for a peanut allergy.

She became a paid spokesperson for Mylan, the maker of EpiPen, in May, speaking about her son’s allergy. She appeared on several TV talk shows to speak about her son’s peanut allergy.

“The epinephrine auto-injector is a vital part of our family healthcare, as it is for the many who are at risk. I recently learned that the price of the Epi-Pen as been systematically raised by Mylan to a point that renders the medication cost-prohibitive for countless people,” she wrote in the statement.

She added she hopes Mylan “will seriously consider the outpouring of voices of those millions of people who are dependent on the device, and take swift action to lower the cost to be more affordable for whom it is a life-saving necessity,” the statement reads.

Mylan has been panned for the price hike, and amid the firestorm, the firm announced Thursday that it would help reduce the cost of the drug, which cost around $100 in 2009. According to Reuters, the price of EpiPen has increased significantly since Mylan acquired the drug in 2007.

In a press release, Mylan said it would cover “up to $300 of out-of-pocket cost at [a] pharmacy,” which would effectively reduce the patient cost by about 50 percent.

Mylan CEO Heather Bresch stated, “We have been a long-term, committed partner to the allergy community and are taking immediate action to help ensure that everyone who needs an EpiPen Auto-Injector gets one. We recognize the significant burden on patients from continued, rising insurance premiums and being forced increasingly to pay the full list price for medicines at the pharmacy counter.”

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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