The EpiPen has saved the lives of countless people all over the world. But the pharma corporation that owns it has deliberately boosted its price by over 500%.

EpiPens save lives. They instantly reverse anaphylactic shock from a potentially fatal allergic reaction -- like from a bee sting, fish, or peanut allergy. And now families need to spend upwards of $600 for a product that could literally make the difference between the life and death of a loved one.

This is a textbook case of Big Pharma run amok. Tell Mylan to cancel its price hike and make EpiPens affordable.

Price gouging in the US sets a global precedent. This one is so mercenary and outrageous that even Martin Shkreli, the hated “Pharma Bro” who made a cancer drug go up 5,500%, has said the corporation behind it are “vultures.”

Epinephrine, the drug that EpiPens deliver to the body, costs only a couple of cents per dose. Mylan acquired the drug nine years ago when it cost less than $100 for a two-pen set. Now, with some families reporting paying over $500 for the drug that can save their child’s life, Mylan is raking in profits of $1.2 billion from EpiPens alone.

Since EpiPens expire after one year, parents need to purchase new pens or refills every year. Mylan is literally holding hostage the families of children with severe allergies. It needs to stop now.

In a statement to NBC News, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders said it best:

"The drug industry's greed knows no bounds. There's no reason an EpiPen, which costs Mylan just a few dollars to make, should cost families more than $600. The only explanation for Mylan raising the price by six times since 2009 is that the company values profits more than the lives of millions of Americans.”

When Martin Shrkeli boosted cancer and HIV drug Daraprim by 5,500%, nearly 300,000 SumOfUs members stood up against the price hike -- since then he’s been ousted as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. It’s time to stand up to Big Pharma once again, and halt this kind of extortion before it's entrenched worldwide.

Tell Mylan to end this price gouge and charge a fair price for EpiPens now.

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