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Sarah Jessica Parker Quits Job As EpiPen Spokesperson Over Price Hikes

Actress Sarah Jessica Parker has cut ties with an allergy pen manufacturer after a price hike.

The Sex and the City star became a paid spokesperson for Mylan, the pharmaceutical company behind the EpiPen, after using the emergency device when she realized her now-13-year-old son James Wilkie was deathly allergic to peanuts.

She recently fronted a campaign titled Anaphylaxis For Reel, which encouraged allergy sufferers to be prepared for anaphylactic shocks by arming themselves with products like the EpiPen, which contains the drug epinephrine.

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However, Mylan bosses have upset the actress by raising the cost of the prescription allergy medication to over $500 (£379), after price hikes in 2014 and 2015. The EpiPen cost just $57 (£43) in 2007, reports Bloomberg.com.

Mylan executives have vowed to make the drug more affordable for patients in need, but the pledge was not enough for Parker, and on Thursday (25Aug16), the concerned mum took to Instagram to attack the company.

“The epinephrine auto-injector is a vital part of our family’s healthcare, as it is for the many who are at risk…” she wrote.

“I’m left disappointed, saddened and deeply concerned by Mylan’s actions. I do not condone this decision and I have ended my relationship with Mylan as a direct result of it.”

She concluded, “I hope they 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.”

Mylan officials have yet to respond to Parker’s comments.

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Parker and her husband, fellow actor Matthew Broderick, are also parents to twin daughters Marion and Tabitha, seven.

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