In the video I posted, he speaks extensively on of how he owns a patent on a drug that treats toxoplasmosis, and how people who aren't under a high income bracket can get the drug for free. The media painted a picture of him as a man denying HIV-positive persons a "cure"...his drug isn't even targeted toward HIV or AIDS. It never was. He sells fucking Daraprim, and he's being used as a tool of the media to create resentment toward the upper class.
The media painted a picture of him as a man denying HIV-positive persons a "cure"...his drug isn't even targeted toward HIV or AIDS. It never was. He sells fucking Daraprim, and he's being used as a tool of the media to create resentment toward the upper class.
Close, pay attention though...closer...
I say he's a Jackass and a cocky narc to boot. He's spinning some PR bullshit now that raising the price of the drug was to fund research. Hahaha, people are gullible.
The drug is supposedly for a rare disease, unlike malaria, and it was working just fine as is. He's made life impossibly harder for the most vulnerable people just cause he can make some dough off their desperation.
He's another corporate shill (who happens to have a hipster online persona). This dude was a hedge fund manager. He's not a researcher, doctor or even a pharmacist. He just knows how to make $ screwing people over. Meh, nothing new here.
He's no angel, but he's not the devil, by a very long shot...either..so...careful with the KoolAid, it works effectively on too many.
What exactly 'evil' and supposedly so "horrific' has he done?
...other than the obvious, which is why this massive smear campaign has targeted him...
That's not how I understood this. The majority of people have insurance so the drug is covered but these tactics drive rates up for everyone. He claims it doesn't but it does. Pharma price gauging is a problem and he took it to the extreme when he jacked the rate overnight from $13 to $750/pill.
He notes that 30% of people have to buy the drug out of pocket BUT those people can send him a "tweet" and he will send them the pills. On what planet does that even make sense. What about personal privacy? Which, one could argue is even more important since this drug primarily treats a secondary illness that is most often caused by HIV. He sidesteps the drugs connection to HIV but that is semantics. And it is of note because HIV has driven up the need for this drug and therefore his profits.
The only good thing out of this is that maybe govt. will finally bring in serious regulations on pharma.
Primal stated: source post
Trypt...any other ideas? You have a pretty decent background , what else seems to be not quite what it appears to be.
What I see is a man who was brought before a court because of media melodrama, and refused to partake in the affair. Again, Daraprim treats toxoplasmosis. There are more drugs than Daraprim that do this, though yes, Daraprim is likely the most effective drug in most cases.
Shrekli being accused of "hiking the price on a drug to help AIDS patients" is a narrative far off the mark. Patients with AIDS in its latter stages are prone to a wide variety of ailments because they have compromised immune systems. People who cannot afford the drug receive it for free.
"For certain populations, who are uninsured and meet Turing's financial need criteria, Turing picks up the tab for Daraprim. Because the drug costs so little to make, Turing can still make money without charging these people for it. Shkreli told Bloomberg TV in the first few days of the drug price craze, "Half of our drug we give away for $1."
The other half of people who need the drug, however, are still left paying the full price — if only in some capacity.
Dr. David Belck, a primary care physician who also runs the site Truecostofhealthcare.net, told Business Insider that it's the same thing as charging $30 for a ball point pen. Ball point pens only cost 10 cents a piece, but if you can get a few people to pay the full $30, you can still make a profit and give the rest of your product away for free." (Source)
This all seems rather benign from a company that is trying to raise funds to cure AIDS itself. It's not as if the man is denying people of HIV antivirals. And just to put things in perspective, look how much HIV antivirals cost. https://aidsinfo.nih.gov/guidelines/html/1/adult-and-adolescent-arv-guidelines/459/cost-considerations-and-antiretroviral-therapy.
I may be going out on a limb with this, but I think Shrekli has been a scapegoat for "corporate greed." Another example of the media creating hysteria about a particular individual, instead of focusing on more important issues like conglomerations and lobbying. Although as major media outlets are run by conglomerates themselves, it's easy to see why they focus so little on such issues.
Raising the price of Daraprim exponentially overnight made him an easy target. Corporate greed is undoubtedly real thing—inseparable from our capitalist structure—but we have to look at the actual data here.
I don't think I am drinking KoolAid, I'm just looking at the facts. But I get it. He's a cocky, entertaining troll, edging on the people who challenge him. It's funny I guess? He's also sketchy and really unlikable. It was only after he was called for questioning that he started spinning this altruistic angle to justify himself. I wonder how high his legal fees will climb? lol
And, that interview was just awful - cringe. No journalism there at all. It was like watching a painful first date. The "Wine for Dummies" on his bookshelf was funny though. esp. when he then opened a $6,000 bottle of wine and placed it on his shitty coffee table. ROFL