It is people like this that you really wish KARMA would come back and bite him in the ass

[still_one]

I saw this punk this morning on Bloomberg. I would love someone to wipe that smirk off that punk ass

"WATCH: Ex-hedge funder who hiked AIDS pill cost by 5,500 percent says drug ‘still underpriced’

Appearing on Bloomberg TV, the CEO of a pharmaceutical company that recently hiked the price of a drug used for critically ill infants and AIDS patients by 5,500 percent , defended the price increase by promising better things to come for future patients.

Martin Shkreli, 32, the founder and chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, recently purchased the rights to Daraprim and immediate increased the cost from $13.50 to $750 per pill.

Asked why the huge increase in cost, Shkreli explained that the old companies who owned the drug were “practically giving it away almost,” and he needs to turn a profit.

Noting that the pill sold for $13.50 and the course of treatment “to save your life was only a $1,000,” Shrkeli said he had to make a change.

“We know, these days, in modern pharmaceuticals, cancer drugs can cost $100,000 or more, whereas these drugs can cost a half of a million dollars,” he explained. “Daraprim is still under-priced relative to its peers.”

Asked if the pill really only costs $1 to manufacture, Shkreli agreed and said, “It costs very little to make Daraprim.”

Shkreli then listed off manufacturing, distribution, and FDA costs as well as paying the people “who make it to specifications.”

Pressed even further on the $750 cost per pill, the CEO defended the price by noting how much it brought into the pharmaceutical company annually.

“This drug was making $5 million in revenue,” he said with a smile. “And I don’t think you can find a drug company on this planet that can make money on $5 million in revenue.”

Shkreli stated that the drug is made for a “very very tough disease.”

“It requires a lot of attention and focus. The drug company needs to partner with the patients and make sure that it’s a very cared for community. And that costs a lot of money too,” pointing out that the company also “gives away” the drug for $1 for those who can’t afford it.

Shkreli added: “Patients now have a powerful ally in our company.”

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/ex-hedge-funder-who-hiked-aids-pill-cost-by-5500-percent-says-drug-still-underpriced/

[hifiguy]

1. That fucker belongs in a tumbrel

on his way to the National Razor for a nice close shave at the shoulders.

[still_one]

2. He really was a smarmy jerk. I really hope they can charge him with something. That is just what

you want to head a drug company, a former hedge fund trader, NOT

[GeorgeGist]

14. Yes.

[roguevalley]

15. I want to kick his dad in the nuts

[randys1]

3. If Karma existed could the Bush family still have so much money and power?

Just one example of millions I could make.

[still_one]

5. Doesn't always happen overnight I guess

[shenmue]

4. Lying fucking bullshit

[still_one]

7. I was seeing red this morning listening to him spew his garbage

[shenmue]

9. He just robbed all the sick and poor

Piece of garbage.

[smirkymonkey]

12. I'm glad I didn't see it. My television would probably be lying on the street

below in pieces. Greedy motherf***ers like this make me want to spit nails.

[TDale313]

6. Yep. Just posted something similar.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7190335

The sad thing is, even if there's some legal remedy, it could well take so long that it'll be too late for many patients. This is so wrong.

[still_one]

11. This has been brought up to n can't ngress since at least 2011, and nothing was done

I hope generic makers are able to come in quickly, and Canadian and international pharmacies can help

Infectious disease doctors are very angry about this

[arcane1]

8. He is all over social media today, so at least the subject is finally getting national attention

He is ultimately a symptom of a much, much larger issue.

[spanone]

10. a one-man death panel

[artislife]

40. Exactly

He makes my blood boil.

[mcar]

13. Personifies scumbag

[Frustratedlady]

16. This infuriates me to no end. How dare he raise the price that much when it only costs $1 to make.

Where the hell is Congress? Forget Benghazi, Obamacare and all the other crap they are investigating ad nauseum, and REALLY help the people on these drug costs. I know of patients who are paying $7K/month on one medication. The insurance companies are giving notice they will no longer cover and the patient will have to find another way of paying for it. Pharmaceuticals find a better mousetrap, then advertise to get the patient on it and raise the price...snap! Caughtcha!

My husband was offered a prescription for ALS, but the pill was so huge, he would have choked to death if he'd taken one. That is one of the main problems for some ALS patients...swallowing. It cost $900/month (nearly 20 years ago) and the dr. said it would extend his life for another 2-3 months. "Why would I want to extend my life with ALS and pay royally to do so?" Of course, we never did because of the swallowing issue.

Can this jerk sleep at night knowing he is taking away any chances for those children? If he can't have compassion for them and AIDS patients, he doesn't deserve to use up oxygen. What a horrible person.

[CanSocDem]

43. It's called capitalism. (eom)

[Ed Suspicious]

17. We seriously need to put assholes like this out of business. I'd love to shove his MBA (if that's

part of the problem) straight up his ass and charge a half a million for extraction.

[rurallib]

18. A dark recess of my mind seems to recall that in Canada if a company gouges

like that the government can have generics made and distributed.

I could be wrong, but a law allowing that would certainly stop crap like that.
(I know - congress would never pass it .....)

[hibbing]

19. question

I wonder just how much tax payer monies went to big pharma to develop the drug in the first place.


Peace

[jalan48]

20. Folks like this will do it until someone tells they can't. It's not all about the "Free Market".

[erronis]

21. Looking for justice - perhaps we should not expect it from government

There are lots of ways to make perps like him pay. Boycotts, public shaming, robo calls to his friends and co-crims, ... Lots of ways.

[Wounded Bear]

22. Just say it, your life is just leverage...

the more you need a drug like this to survive, the more they will charge, regardless of actual cost or overhead.

The most blatant example of overt profiteering in the Pharma industry to date.

[Politicub]

23. We need an employee-owned pharmaceutical company

and pronto. It could focus on making generics and selling them at the least amount it needs to in order to turn a profit.

I can dream.

[joanbarnes]

24. I can't even.....

[Sunlei]

25. so Walgreen's made a deal w/ this price gouger!, only through their "Walgreen's Specialty Pharmacy"

Availability and price[edit]

In the U.S. as of 2015, with the acquisition of Daraprim tablets by Turing Pharmaceuticals,[13] pyrimethamine has become a single-source and specialty pharmacy item, and the cost of pyrimethamine has increased.[14] The cost of a monthly course for a person on 75 mg rose to about $75,000/month, from $13/tablet to $833/tablet,[15] or $750 per tablet per a New York Times report from September 2015.[16] Outpatients can no longer obtain pyrimethamine from their community pharmacy, but only through a single dispensing pharmacy, Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy, and institutions can no longer order from their general wholesaler, but have to set up an account with the Daraprim Direct program


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrimethamine

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

26. Don't forget to add the cost of advertising in every media possible

to people that can't buy the drug because they're not doctors.

[rpannier]

27. Give it a few more years

I'm guessing people like him and the CEO at Nestle will end up on the news -- their bullet ridden bodies laid out on the street somewhere

Maybe I'm just hoping

[Ford_Prefect]

28. He does seem like someone who should be very careful...

about what he eats in a restaurant, or where he crosses the street, or what bit of beach he lays out on. He cannot imagine the kind of damage he's just done to ordinary people. Vulture capitalist he is indeed.

[annabanana]

29. He had a smirk on his face the whole time...

I hope the full weight of public shaming lands on him... HARD

[niyad]

31. he would actually have to possess a conscience for public shaming to work.

[niyad]

30. Nemesis, darling, would you take care of this scum, please?

[tabasco]

32. A large percentage of humans are greedy, murderous apes.

Why should this surprise anyone?

[Ed Suspicious]

33. The fact that you seemingly aren't horrified by it makes me wonder. wtf?

[tabasco]

45. Horrified by some asshole CEO showing a lack of compassion for his fellow man? LOL.

It's what I've come to expect in the corporate oligarchy of the former U.S.A.

[Scruffy1]

34. It's actually for treating toxoplasmosis gondii, not a cancer treatment or aids treatment.

Toxoplasmosis is a common protozoan parasite. Cats are the only animal known to spread it and over 20% of the US population has it. For most people it shows no symptoms, but for people with HIV, cancer, or other immune depressive diseases it can be quite dangerous.

He's doing what capitalists do.

[SwankyXomb]

39. Murdering people for profit.

[Lifelong Protester]

35. His face and name are now all over the Internet

so I hope he is metaphorically run out of town.

Sharpen your pitchforks folks....

[dflprincess]

36. I did see a post on Facebook that says he deserves "the Palmer treatment"

and I would agree.

This guy needs to be hounded wherever he goes.

[raccoon]

42. "the Palmer treatment"--Elucidate, my dear Watson. nt

[n2doc]

44. The lion killer

https://www.facebook.com/Shame-Lion-Killer-Dr-Walter-Palmer-and-River-Bluff-Dental-478622992305703/timeline/

[dflprincess]

52. I apologize for taking so long to respond

but I see someone did answer your question.

I'm probably a bit more aware of him by just his last name as his dental office is a mere 3 miles west of where I live. Caused all sorts of traffic tie ups around the neighborhood during the protests (especially as there was some construction in the area as well) - but it was in a good cause.

[raccoon]

53. I totally agree this oxygen-waster deserves the Palmer treatment--at the very least. nt

[Thekaspervote]

37. For those that need these drugs don't despair there is a work around

Yes, I like to kick his a....

You can get drugs legally from Canada and sometimes for as much as a 10th of the cost. With socialized medicine, this just doesn't happen to Canadians.

Also, by getting your drugs else where, it hurts these scoundrels profits by working around the broken system here in the US

[Old Crow]

38. Considering...

... what his actions mean to the critically ill and considering how I saw not the slightest trace of regret or shame--just a lot of smug self-satisfaction--I have to conclude that Martin Shkreli is a well-dressed, well-spoken psychopath.

[hifiguy]

47. Just a disciple of Milton Friedman,

not that there is one bit of difference.

Fuck the people, let them die, in the Glorious Name of the Free Market, which works to everyone's best interests (If "everyone" happens to be stinking rich.)

[Old Crow]

50. Agreed.

It's the same old story. Marx nailed it long ago in Das Kapital. Steinbeck and Upton Sinclair explored all the suffering and pain this behavior inflicts. The world is filled with people who, given a chance to profit at the expense of human suffering, will take that chance, run with it, and not have a moment's pang of conscience about it. Instead, they'll congratulate themselves as superior beings because, well... they're on top, so of course they're superior.

The older I get, the more I see this as a sick farce that endlessly repeats. The only thing that surprises me are the legions of people who think it isn't happening or who see nothing wrong with it and who think regulations surrounding capitalism are harmful and unnecessary.

[hifiguy]

51. Marx's prescriptions were bad,

because they were ludicrously utopian, but his analyses of how capitalism destroys itself are more accurate than they have ever been.

And if I were this particular asshole I would be keeping a low profile and my mouth shut. He just might run into a serious, not to say fatal, "accident" in the not-too-distant future given his absolute, boundless greed and inhumanity.

[GReedDiamond]

41. Anyone who dies as a result of this punkass bloodsucking parasite Shkreli...

...should be counted in charges of murder against the monster Shkreli, similar to the sociopathic peanut company CEO who just got 28 years for poisoning and killing his customers...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/21/us-usa-georgia-salmonella-idUSKCN0RL24H20150921

[hamsterjill]

46. If ever there was an asshole who needs a good ass whooping!!!!

I'm not advocating violence, of course, but I'd love to be picked for the jury for a person charged with pummeling this jerk!

[ScreamingMeemie]

48. With allies like that...

[napkinz]

49. he sure smirks a lot ...