Massachusetts Dad Leads Charge Calling for EpiPen Maker's CEO to Resign

GRAFTON, MA — The outcry over the increase in the price of the EpiPen, the life-saving device for those with severe allergies, has been loud and furious since the announcement that the price of the pen has escalated while the salary of its company's CEO has also shot up considerably.

The cost for the EpiPen, the crucial life-saving device for those with severe allergies, has jumped from $94 to $608 within a few years, and its company Mylan's CEO Heather Bresh just got a raise: from $5 million to $19 million, reports WCVB.

Among those outraged is Andy Palumbo, whose 2-year-old daughter CeCe almost died from a food allergy a year ago, the EpiPen literally saving her life. Palumbo, who lives with his wife and daughter in Grafton, submitted an op-ed to the Huffington Post, writing, "I will forever be grateful for the people who have developed the life-saving drug and accompanying technology that are the reason that my daughter is alive and well today."

Palumbo writes that the only competitor of the EpiPen was recalled in October, when millions of families turned to Mylan to purchase EpiPens. The price, he says, has skyrocketed to more than 460 percent, and Bresch's salary has increased more than 670 percent.

He writes that Bresch has "cut corners before" and "has enriched herself and her fellow Mylan executives at the risk of hard-working American families who are already saddled with great economic and health concerns. They don’t need or deserve a rich narcissist kicking them while they are down."

Read the full OpEd piece in the Huffington Post.

Bresch has blamed the EpiPen price hike on Obamacare, citing employers' increasing deductibles, reports Fortune magazine, and said that it isn't an "expensive product" compared to others, with its wholesale cost at $600.

Patch file photo