Martin Shkreli: Hero, zero, or somewhere in between?

He's a douche, but I respect that he didn't submit to the HoR sham trial.

1) The drug he raised the prices on is very rarely used drug.

2) The price raise of the drug is still on the low end of the 'High Tier' pay schedule for drugs.

3) If a person is uninsured they can submit a form to his company and get the drug free.

4) Many drugs that are more commonly used cost much more than the drug he raised prices on.

The media and 99.9% of people are really stupid and don't understand that Pharma companies raise prices on drugs like this ALL the time.

He was a cherry-picked, media manufactured "villan" who was set up perfectly for Hillary to come save the day. Then multiple companies started producing the pill for $1 and there was no need for her "help." Free market wins again.

Limousine Liberals wrote:

He was a cherry-picked, media manufactured "villan" who was set up perfectly for Hillary to come save the day. Then multiple companies started producing the pill for $1 and there was no need for her "help." Free market wins again.

Exactly. The media needed a villain and he was an easy pick.

He bought the limited edition Wu tang album and never listened to it.

Awful person.

The disgusting part to me is the house hearing; these are our elected official, who I'd assume by this point understand how the system works and the reality of the situation, but would rather score cheap points on an easy target.

In response to the opening question I wish Martin had replied: "Don't care. What's an AIDS infected, single woman, with no income and no insurance doing having a child? And what are you doing asking a question about maybe 1% of the people who need the drug?"

Our politicians are scumbags. They don't know or understand anything more about our society than anyone of us do; they've only been good enough to fool us into electing them.

Dude's a punk bitch. Weasel-tier.

He's a symptom.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/why-bad-boy-martin-shkreli-has-been-a-godsend-for-the-drug-industry/ar-BBp91Nd?li=BBnb7Kv

Limousine Liberals wrote:

He was a cherry-picked, media manufactured "villan" who was set up perfectly for Hillary to come save the day. Then multiple companies started producing the pill for $1 and there was no need for her "help." Free market wins again.

I heard Hillary last night on the radio from a Town Hall in New Hampshire which Anderson Cooper hosted. Her comment about multi-billionaires salving their guilty consciences through charitable donations was SO rich coming from one so intimately associated with the Clinton Foundation which can hardly be described as a well-run charity passing along charitable aid efficiently to needy beneficiaries.

Transcript of relevant section:

COOPER: Let me just simply follow up. You mentioned attacks on the early 1990s.

CLINTON: Right.

COOPER: Do you still believe there's a vast right-wing conspiracy?

CLINTON: Don't you?

(LAUGHTER)

COOPER: I'm asking you.

CLINTON: Yes. It's gotten even better funded. You know they brought in some new multibillionaires to pump the money in.

And look, these guys play for keeps. They want to control our country.

(LAUGHTER)

COOPER: I'm asking you.

CLINTON: Yes. It has gotten even better funded. You know, they brought in some new multi-billionaires to pump the money in.

And, look, these guys play for keeps. They want to control our country. Senator Sanders and I agree on that completely. They want to rig the economy so they continue to get richer and richer, they could care less about income inequality.

They salve their consciences by giving big money to philanthropy, and, you know, getting great pictures of them standing in front of whatever charity they donated to.

TLW wrote:

Limousine Liberals wrote:

He was a cherry-picked, media manufactured "villan" who was set up perfectly for Hillary to come save the day. Then multiple companies started producing the pill for $1 and there was no need for her "help." Free market wins again.

Exactly. The media needed a villain and he was an easy pick.

Do either of you have any authority to back up these claims that the "free market" brought the price of Daraprim down to $1 per pill?

I certainly agree that Shkreli is an easy villain. But it seems awfully naïve to believe that the price of such drugs is governed by something that looks very much like a "free market." To a very large extent, prescription drug prices in the U.S. arise out of the operation of the federal patent system, related monopolization practices, industry price-fixing and price-signaling schemes, the FDA approval process, and a patchwork of state and federal regulatory systems for determining taxpayer-funded drug payments.

"Today, a San Diego biomedical company today introduced a competitor to that drug that sells for $1 a capsule."

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/oct/22/imprimis-turing-daraprim/

"Express Scripts offers $1 alternative to $750 Daraprim pill"

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/express-scripts-will-offer-1-alternative-to-750-daraprim-pill/

You can also legally buy it online from Canada for ~$1.

Avocado's Number wrote:

I certainly agree that Shkreli is an easy villain. But it seems awfully naïve to believe that the price of such drugs is governed by something that looks very much like a "free market." To a very large extent, prescription drug prices in the U.S. arise out of the operation of the federal patent system, related monopolization practices, industry price-fixing and price-signaling schemes, the FDA approval process, and a patchwork of state and federal regulatory systems for determining taxpayer-funded drug payments.

I never made that claim - the other poster did (I was agreeing he was an easy villain for idiots).

However, since you asked:

I have no idea if that 1 dollar alternative is available, however it's completely irrelevant as Shrkeli's company will GIVE YOU THE DRUG FOR FREE, if you are not insured and need it (which is rare as only 3,000 people or there about actually use this drug).

That effin Muslim!

TLW wrote:

I was agreeing he was an easy villain for idiots.

.

the only idiots here are you and the other clowns lashing out at everyone under the sun (congress, Clinton, the "media", regular people who think he is villain) instead of this a$$hole. Let's see if can figure out WHY he is an "easy villain" ??

Because is an incredibly greedy, arrogant, lying, FRAUD. Forget the whole drug hike thing (which was pretty disgusting itself), but his entire career and all his "successes" have been one BIG FRAUD. And yet he is still smirking away like a junior high jacka$$ who is in the principle's office but who wants to prove he has no respect for authority.

Today was nothing, he's got bigger worries-

(and of course some of the extreme right wingers on this site are defending him: if you're rich, no matter how you achieved it [well unless of course your name is Soros or Clinton, etc, etc, etc], then you EARNED it and are a superior being than all the poor slobs of the world.)

TLW wrote:

I have no idea if that 1 dollar alternative is available, however it's completely irrelevant as Shrkeli's company will GIVE YOU THE DRUG FOR FREE, if you are not insured and need it (which is rare as only 3,000 people or there about actually use this drug).

That's great- charge insurance companies $700 when the pill costs a buck. Why do you think insurance premiums/hospital visits are extremely overpriced when this crap gets pulled. (FYI-I used to work in the drug development field, and feel high prices are justified in many cases since they undergo with the huge development costs, and failures of other drugs, but fleecing insurance companies is rediculous).

LOL. He's an easy villain for idiots, and predictably Tyrone ReXXXXing comes in and vilifies him. You go girl!

missing the point wrote:

That's great- charge insurance companies $700 when the pill costs a buck. Why do you think insurance premiums/hospital visits are extremely overpriced when this crap gets pulled. (FYI-I used to work in the drug development field, and feel high prices are justified in many cases since they undergo with the huge development costs, and failures of other drugs, but fleecing insurance companies is rediculous).

You are a fool. How is he supposed to sustain a business by selling the product at manufacturing cost? How is he supposed to raise capital to develop and improve this drug by selling it at manufacturing cost? Business, research, and development cost money. He is trying to help these sick people by creating a new and better drug. Can't do that if you're selling your product for nothing.

The man is a hero. He did NOTHING wrong by raising the price of Daraprim. The regulatory environment (FDA) is responsible for high drug prices across the board. But Shkreli is seriously a genius. In the last six months he's gone head to head with Trump, Sanders, Congress, the Wu-Tang Clan, Charlamagne Tha God, and owned all of their assess.

missing the point wrote:

That's great- charge insurance companies $700 when the pill costs a buck. Why do you think insurance premiums/hospital visits are extremely overpriced when this crap gets pulled. (FYI-I used to work in the drug development field, and feel high prices are justified in many cases since they undergo with the huge development costs, and failures of other drugs, but fleecing insurance companies is rediculous).

This is a systematic problem so get angry at the system that encourages this.

This is a common issue (price hikes). It's been going on for a long time, and will continue to happen.

"As it turns out, the former drug executive was right. A survey of about 3,000 brand-name prescription drugs found that prices more than doubled for 60 and at least quadrupled for 20 since December 2014.

Among the biggest increases was Alcortin A, a combination steroid and antibiotic gel to treat eczema and skin infections: The price soared 1,860 percent, or almost 20-fold, during the period. And a vial of Aloprim, a Mylan NV drug for cancer complications, more than doubled, according to the survey by DRX, a provider of price-comparison software to health plans."