WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. — Dozens of protesters showed up Tuesday at Mylan’s headquarters in Washington County to express their frustration with the company’s price hike on EpiPens.
In response to the public backlash, Mylan announced Tuesday that it will offer its own generic version of the EpiPen for half the price. Therefore, a patient paying $600 an EpiPen can get a generic for $300 – a 50 percent discount.
However, the price is still three times what the product cost just a few years ago, and consumers on average receive a 90 percent discount for generic medications.
Protesters delivered half a million petitions in boxes to Mylan’s headquarters in Southpointe labeled with their message: “Mylan, reverse the EpiPen price hikes now."
Some had personal reasons for signing the petition.
“Both my children have food allergies. I have a 5-year-old daughter who is allergic to dairy, peanuts, tree nuts and sesame. And I have a 10-month-old son who we know is allergic to milk and eggs,” mother Rachael Viehman said.
Viehman said for her children, EpiPens are a necessity.
“We have to have one at all times. We have to have one at school. I have to have one on me. My husband has to have one on him,” she said.
According to a report from NBC News, from 2007 to 2015, Mylan raised the price of EpiPens 461 percent. The product’s average wholesale price has gone from $57 to $317.
In the same period, the total compensation for Mylan CEO Heather Bresch went up 671 percent from just over $2 million to nearly $19 million, NBC News reported.
Some protesters Tuesday held signs that took direct aim at the CEO.
“You know, you can't put a price on your child's life,” Viehman said. “But at the same time, no family should have to choose between having a working EpiPen and putting food on the table.”