Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli was under
fire for raising a 62-year-old drug's price 5,556% from $13.50 to $750 per pill in September, 2015. "Turing jacked up the price of the drug, which is used to prevent malaria and treat
toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection that's dangerous for pregnant
women's unborn children and for people with weakened immune systems,
such as those with AIDS and patients undergoing chemotherapy":
“‘$One billion here we come.’ That was the triumphant message sent by then-Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli, the infamous ‘Pharma Bro’ who jacked up the price of a life-saving drug by over 5,000 percent last year, when it became clear his firm could acquire the rights to the medicine. The email went to Turing’s presumably pleased board of directors last May.
ReplyDelete“To anyone who’s followed this story since The New York Times shined a spotlight on Turing and intensified the national debate about prescription drug pricing last fall, the Shkreli email and other documents made public by the Democrats on the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee Tuesday do little more than confirm the basic facts. Turing raised the price of Daraprim, which treats a deadly parasitic infection called toxoplasmosis that afflicts HIV/AIDS patients, because it could. The company reaped a windfall, followed by a massive backlash that forced out Shkreli without providing any relief to patients.
“But this kind of drug pricing strategy isn’t limited to one rogue executive or company. Though rarely quite so blatant, it’s woven throughout the pharmaceutical industry…” (The Huffington Post, Feb. 2016).
Because our congress are made up of criminals who work to increase their financial standing and future jobs for themselves and their families and big corporations of all ilk, we will never have a "democracy". For those who are not going "to vote" this session, don't complain about the congressmen/women who bilk the citizens every second of every day since the beginning of this country.
DeleteI could list the price increases for my medications. I could do the same for medications taken by my family members and friends. Aside from making officious sounds, the members of our elected representatives have done NOTHING about stopping this scam and saving our lives.
ReplyDelete"Martin Shkreli, once dubbed 'the most hated man in America,' is now a convicted felon.
ReplyDelete"Shkreli, notorious for raising the price of the potentially life-saving drug Daraprim by 5,000 percent, was found guilty Friday [August 4] of defrauding investors in two hedge funds.
"He is now almost certain to go to prison. Shkreli faces as long as 20 years behind bars, although he’s likely to serve much less. U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto allowed him to return home and wished Shkreli well after the verdict was read. She said she would see him soon, though she hasn’t set a date for sentencing.
"'This was a witch hunt of epic proportions,' a smiling Shkreli, flanked by his lawyers and his father, told reporters outside the Brooklyn, New York, courthouse following the verdict. 'Maybe they found one or two broomsticks, but at the end of the day we’ve been acquitted of the most important charges in this case.'
"Shkreli was convicted of three of eight charges, including securities fraud. He was acquitted of fraud charges related to allegations that he looted Retrophin to pay off his hedge-fund investors. Sentencing guidelines take into consideration the size of losses, so the Retrophin allegations carried the potential for the most severe penalty.
"In the end, it was Shkreli’s lies to his investors that cost him his freedom, not his 2015 decision to jack up the price of the anti-parasitic drug. Prosecutors said Shkreli, 34, misled clients about the performance of his failing hedge funds, secretly used their money to start Retrophin, and then took $11 million from the drug-development company to repay them. The jury didn’t buy the government’s claims about Retrophin.
"'The law is very clear that ‘intent to harm’ is not a required element to prove ‘intent to defraud,’ said Kevin Sadler, a lawyer involved in the case of convicted Ponzi schemer R. Allen Stanford. 'How much in investor losses Shkreli actually caused will be relevant in the sentencing phase of his case. But there is no such thing as a ‘no harm, no foul’ defense to securities fraud...'"
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-04/martin-shkreli-convicted-of-fraud-by-u-s-jury-in-new-york
August 4, 2017:
ReplyDeleteMartin Shkreli was found guilty of 3 of 8 charges, including securities fraud. Shkreli was accused of duping hedge-fund investors. He was also charged with ripping off the drug company he founded to repay investors. Shkreli faces years in prison when sentenced.