Pharma asswipe strikes again

[oldr_n_wsr]

Martin Shkreli told one investor on Dec. 2, 2010, that his hedge fund had $35 million assets, but it only had $700

No wonder he had to up the price on the drugs.

[wesw]

bingo older.

and where did all the money go?

[Econoline]

Pharma Karma?

[wesw]

[MajGenl.Meade]

Someone please tell me he didn't post a Boy George video???? Please?

[RayThom]

... and still a little snot nosed fuck. Let's hope he does the right thing hours before the court sentences him. Asshole.

[datsunaholic]

Of course, he's already out on bail. $5 Million bail... chump change for him.

[kmccune]

Some people absolutely,do not care about anyone else,but them selves,it was very criminal,what he has done.

[Econoline]

Andy Borowitz nails it with humor once again:

BROOKLYN (The Borowitz Report)—A criminal lawyer representing Turing Pharmaceuticals chief Martin Shkreli has informed his client that he is raising his hourly legal fees by five thousand per cent, the lawyer has confirmed.

Minutes after Shkreli’s arrest on charges of securities fraud, the attorney, Harland Dorrinson, announced that he was hiking his fees from twelve hundred dollars an hour to sixty thousand dollars.

Shkreli, who reportedly received the news about the price hike while he was being fingerprinted, cried foul and accused his attorney of “outrageous and inhumane price gouging.”

“This is the behavior of a sociopath,” Shkreli was heard screaming.

For his part, Shkreli’s lawyer was unmoved by his client’s complaint. “Compared to what he pays for an hour of Wu-Tang Clan, sixty thou is a bargain,” he said.

Note for Lord Jim: yes, Andy Borowitz is a comedian; yes, this piece is satire.

[Scooter]

This piece makes the very good point that Shkreli is just an overexaggerated caricature of what goes on in the boardrooms of the health care industry every day - greedy corporate fat cats milking the desperation of sick people to generate obscene profits. They may do it more subtly than Shkreli and have better PR spin machines to fool us into believing that they actually give a flying fuck about the sick and dying people they are bleeding dry, but they are all doing it just the same.

Martin Shkreli couldn’t be a better representative for pharmaceutical industry greed if he ran around personally unhooking sick children from life support. Not only did he increase the cost of the lifesaving medication Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 a pill, he blatantly lied about walking back the price gouging and had the gall to respond to criticism from politicians, including Hillary Clinton, with a flippant “lol” on twitter. Most recently he attempted to stratospherically increase the price of an affordable Chagas medication and flaunted his wealth in the face of the patients he is driving into poverty by spending $2 million on a Wu-Tang Clan album.

Thankfully, there may be some justice coming his way, as he was arrested this week for securities fraud. While he awaits trial, I’d like to take a moment to thank Martin Shkreli for shining a light on the greed and corruption that drives our healthcare system. Most importantly, I want to thank Shkreli for making people aware of the fact that he was not arrested for gouging the cost of lifesaving drugs. It cannot be stressed enough that his contemptible, corrupt acts as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals were completely legal and within his rights as the head of a corporation.

Whether you have HIV, Chagas, hepatitis C, or cancer, no one should be made financially destitute because they get sick — our country was founded on the idea that we all have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. When you are asking people to choose between life and financial ruin, you are taking away their freedom. There is no choice to be made — you must simply accept destitution and live the rest of your days in poverty. That’s not the country I want to live in.

This country is broken in many ways, and it seems like our politicians have given up on containing the spread of abuse in the health care industry. It took Shkreli’s cartoonish greed and disregard for human life to get the nation talking about the cost of drugs, and with this little rat behind bars, it’s now up to us to make sure this problem stays on the radar until we find a solution.

[Lord Jim]

Of course, he's already out on bail. $5 Million bail... chump change for him.

You're right about that...

He bragged that if he lost the 65 million dollar law suit against him it, "wouldn't put a dent" in his wealth...

He also had to surrender his passport, but with the money this guy has, getting a phony won would be no problem...

I sincerely hope that they've got this guy under solid surveillance, because in addition to being a flight risk, he's the type who will also be trying to destroy evidence, intimidate witnesses etc.

[oldr_n_wsr]

bingo older.

and where did all the money go?

Certainly not on nice clothes.

[BoSoxGal]

Big Pharma is the biggest thief in the treasury; beyond the outrageous prices they gouge US consumers and their insurers for (including Medicaid and Medicare), they are scrambling to 'merge' with little companies in Europe so they can avoid US taxation. Pfizer, the biggest of them all, just merged with a tiny company overseas and made that company the primary company, so they would not be subject to US taxation. To the tune of BILLIONS/yr.!

I don't understand why more people aren't outraged over this.

[Big RR]

BSG--I blame the government as much as I do Pfizer for that; he government is the entity which passed the law to encourage this offshoring by giving the tax savings.

As for gouging prices, it was also the government which, as part of the ACA, forbid the insurers to negotiate pricing the way it is done in the rest of the world (not that the insurers care all that much, they're just passing the costs along to us and keeping their profits); indeed, I recall Obama meeting with the president of Pfizer in the white house several time to get its support for the ACA by making this sort of deal.

[BoSoxGal]

We need BERNIE!

[Big RR]

Yep, but we're not going to get him I'd bet.

[oldr_n_wsr]

I don't.

[Scooter]

As for gouging prices, it was also the government which, as part of the ACA, forbid the insurers to negotiate pricing the way it is done in the rest of the world

I know that was built into Medicare Part D, was it later also extended to the ACA. I just don't recall ever hearing that, and it would have created a major stink in the circles in which I do HIV work.

[Big RR]

Scooter--it's a little more complicated because there is no single payer; while individual insurers are still free to negotiate preferred pricing, the law does not permit (SFAIK) the ACA insurers to combine and negotiate together, even though government funds are involved to subsidize the insurance. There was discussion at the outset to permit such negotiations, but it was struck down.

[Fafhrd]

Why do I doubt he will do any time?

Because He's got lots and lots of money and can buy the best lawyers.