Shkreli’s infamous 4,000% price hike gets him a lifetime pharma ban
- Thread starter JournalBot
- Start date
Why is anyone talking about pricing of a drug that was discoverd in 50's and should be out of patent since about 50 years?
Why aren't there multiple generics available for about 2c/pill in every pharmacy and why don't medicare, medicaid and insurances automatically enforce using the practically free generics that obviously should be available everywhere?
Seems like the is a relatively simple supply side fix available here?
edit: oh, wiki tells me that a generic was approved 2020. Why on earth didn't one appear like 40-50 years ago?
Why aren't there multiple generics available for about 2c/pill in every pharmacy and why don't medicare, medicaid and insurances automatically enforce using the practically free generics that obviously should be available everywhere?
Seems like the is a relatively simple supply side fix available here?
edit: oh, wiki tells me that a generic was approved 2020. Why on earth didn't one appear like 40-50 years ago?
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Dude was a convenient diversion for all the rest of the shady big pharma stuff that will go on unpunished.
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Cheese ball references don’t cover for the fact Shkreli was a slam dunk case. Its nice to see justice but the scale of the crime is beans compared to the big boys. Shkreli got caught for flaunting, not the crime. The titans are happy to see a smug little shit catch some charges for being brash. They can all pretend to be aghast, the prosecutors look like heroes, the public gets its schadenfreude, and nothing fundamentally changes.
If America’s chickenshit (Jim Comey’s words, not mine) prosecutors recovered their spines, and remembered they could prosecute corporations & cases when they aren’t 100% sure they could win, then they can claim to be on the shaolin path.
If America’s chickenshit (Jim Comey’s words, not mine) prosecutors recovered their spines, and remembered they could prosecute corporations & cases when they aren’t 100% sure they could win, then they can claim to be on the shaolin path.
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This is definitely a good start. Now do the rest of the predatory pharmaceutical industry.
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Oh no, the poor fella had to give up his $2 million Wu-Tang album? That's just so... hilarious.
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ToplevelpoT
Ars Scholae Palatinae
"Shkreli and Mulleady allegedly set up a complex scheme that kept the drug out of the hands of competitors, restricted suppliers from selling critical drug ingredients to competitors, and blocked the release of sales data that would reveal the market size to competitors."
FTA
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Edubfromktown
Ars Praetorian
Hopefully that creepy/weird smirk of his does the same for any form of digital media!
Digital permaban for you!
Digital permaban for you!
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Shkreli was not even born when generic versions could already have appeared. There must be some other reason.
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IIRC, there are two main reasons:
1. There is little or no money to be made, or at least there wasn't until Shkrelli came along.
2. In order to market a generic, the manufacturer needs to demonstrate that the generic is effectively equivalent to the original, and Shkrelli prevented (or made it exceedingly hard) for any potential competitor to buy original Daraprim to use in testing to establish that
#2, in particular, is amazingly anti-competitive and just plain evil.
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I seem to remember the market size for Daraprim being relatively small. Perhaps the upfront cost of making a generic was too large relative to potential earnings to enter the market. And it was all sorta fine with one supplier for years until the drug got Shkrelized
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ColdWetDog
Ars Legatus Legionis
For all his faults, and there are many, he and his partner were rather clever.
From TFA:
"Shkreli and Mulleady allegedly set up a complex scheme that kept the drug out of the hands of competitors, restricted suppliers from selling critical drug ingredients to competitors, and blocked the release of sales data that would reveal the market size to competitors."
They actually had to do a lot of work to get this fraud going.
Derek Lowe has followed him for some time. This post can get you started and then you can wander down the rabbit hole if you're interested.
TL;DR - this gets you pretty far:
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In a world dominated by vultures, I guess his aggressiveness was just too much for the rest of the industry.
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He wouldn't have been anyways (unless he started the company himself). Pissed off too many people by getting greedy and bringing attention to a practice a lot of companies were doing (you're just supposed to sheer the sheep as closely as possible, not keep nicking them!). Such as Heather Bresch of Mylan and Epipen fame (whose father just happens to be everyone's favorite Senator Joe Manchin and whose mother helped pass regulations to require schools to carry Epipens...).
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... then he discovers the (largely) unregulated health supplements industry ...
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Narrator voice: Shkreli did not, it would seem, watch his step, nor did he protect his neck, and the consequences were dire.
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Because the price was kept low enough to stifle competition from wanting to enter the market.
Shkreli's 'aniti competitiveness' is what spurred competition. Ironic, yes.
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Too bad it didn't also get him a special, ghost pepper puree, football-sized suppository up his ass.
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First, multiple generics were not available because it was an incredibly niche drug (used almost exclusively to treat Toxiplasmosis) and it was very cheap (I think <$1 per pill). Nobody else wanted to enter that space since the market was so small and cost of getting a production facility up and running, as well as demonstrating bioequivalence (AB rating) would be a net loss. Even existing producers like Sanofi, stopped production of the drug because they were losing money making it. Nor is it the only drug that can be used for that type of infection.
Jacking the price wasn't only unethical but it also suddenly made the drug profitable again for other companies to produce. Before caving on the price hike, Sanofi was talking about spinning up their shuttered facility. He was a complete ass, and detested by nearly everyone in the Pharma industry.
Not only was he a schmuck,but he suffered from some serious Dunning-Kruger. He made it very clear that he thought everyone else in that space were idiots, and that he could "disrupt" the Pharma industry. He held to that belief when people who actually knew what they are doing, said that it was a terrible idea.
We all knew that he was destined for financial ruin and/or jail.
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His arrogance got him, but there are plenty like him still screwing us over working in the shadows of Big Pharma.
I would even dare say MORE evil than him.
I would even dare say MORE evil than him.
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Ghost peppers are really not that hot. And have a great flavor - so don't wast them on him!
Now Reaper or Apollo on the other hand...
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He should be banned from ever serving as an officer in any company and working for any federally regulated company ever again, but I guess this is better than nothing. He'll probably spend the rest of his life flipping burgers as it is and die penniless because his wages will always be garnished to cover the judgment against him.
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Fear not friends there's plenty more rackets for Mr Shkreli’s to get into. NTFs come to mind.
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I applaud this outcome. But this happens all the time from other more traditional pharma companies. Why do they get a free pass?
(Honest question - I am genuinely curious)
(Honest question - I am genuinely curious)
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I know that drugs like these get patents so that the inventors can enjoy some profit-making before others can compete with them, but in practice, should we even encourage profit-making in the healthcare industry?
We need some better way to incentivize researchers to find cures and treatments than just a pure market model. As-is, there are people who profit off scenarios where patients go into debt for life because of the developed treatments' exorbitant costs, and in terms of where we are now, it's not even the doctors and scientists who end up with the majority of that money, it's corporate VIPs and investors.
An alternative would be to have a system where the payer can actually negotiate a realistic price for treatment, even in the event there is no competition for it. A system where the seller has no choice but to sell to the payer, because there aren't any other payers. One might call that a single-payer system...
We need some better way to incentivize researchers to find cures and treatments than just a pure market model. As-is, there are people who profit off scenarios where patients go into debt for life because of the developed treatments' exorbitant costs, and in terms of where we are now, it's not even the doctors and scientists who end up with the majority of that money, it's corporate VIPs and investors.
An alternative would be to have a system where the payer can actually negotiate a realistic price for treatment, even in the event there is no competition for it. A system where the seller has no choice but to sell to the payer, because there aren't any other payers. One might call that a single-payer system...
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Let's not fail to remember that, like many rich folk, he only got his comupin's when he started to screw other rich people (securities fraud for running a Ponzi scheme, to be specific).
This won't teach anyone anything, other than drill in the fact that in the USA, as long as you don't screw with other rich peoples' money, you can screw the little guy to your heart's content.
This won't teach anyone anything, other than drill in the fact that in the USA, as long as you don't screw with other rich peoples' money, you can screw the little guy to your heart's content.
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They have better lawyers, a better understanding of what they can get away with and don't flaunt it. They most likely also pay their dues with regards to lobbying. All that plus they never, ever, disrespect the Wu-Tang Clan.
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You would think that right? But investors are apparently lining to give money to Jeff Skilling's, of Enron Fame, new venture Veld LLC.
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I was thinking a more appropriate adjective would be Shkreljacked. Or possibly Shkrelnapped. He didn't transform the drug as much as he held it for ransom.
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