We have found the worst human being on earth, Pharma Bro

[BigRedChief]

Former Wall street wunderkid now up on charges of inside trading.

Daraprim, which went from costing $13.50 per pill to $750 per pill when he tool over the company, is used to treat toxoplasmosis, a parasitic condition that can occur in pregnant women and people with the HIV virus.

[NinerDoug]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

yeah smart guy. Hey this company has a pill that people will die without and they are selling it for $13.50? Lets take it over and **** them on the price, $700+. they will pay it or die. Who cares either way, right?

Not to defend him, he's obviously a scumbag of the nth degree. However, I would guess that soaking people paying cash for medicine was not what he had in mind. Soaking hospitals and insurance companies was the goal I'm sure.

[jspchief]

Originally Posted by NinerDoug

Not to defend him, he's obviously a scumbag of the nth degree. However, I would guess that soaking people paying cash for medicine was not what he had in mind. Soaking hospitals and insurance companies was the goal I'm sure.

You realize that means he is ****ing all of us? Our taxes and insurance premiums are paying for his little business venture. Is that supposed to be better?

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by mdchiefsfan

This. I mean the dude is a douche bag, but he is the face of the pharmaceutical industry as it stands. There are others out there just like him. My step son's medication for ADHD, focalin, while being generic, costs $250 a month WITH health insurance. It would be $750 without. The entire industry is out of whack.

TBH, you probably need to talk to your pharmacist about finding ways to reduce your medication costs.

Simply looking up Focalin at GoodRx, you can get it for $40/month cash price at Walgreens and Rite-Aid

Many medications are simply expensive to manufacture. Purity standards for pharmaceuticals are higher than any other consumable product. For example, Focalin *must* be the d enantiomer. If you'd like, you can also speak to your practitioner and pharmacist about Ritalin, which is the same chemical compound, but not enantiomerically pure, and quite cheap as well.

[Hydrae]

Originally Posted by ChiliConCarnage

Nothing in that sense but I think that's the question. Should it be legal? Die or pay me whatever amount I choose seems like it borders on extortion.

Things like this are why healthcare costs have been increasing so fast for decades and that's part of why wages are stagnant.

And ACA does not address this issue at all. It is this kind of thing that drove healthcare costs through the roof. The problem with healthcare in this country is not about people without insurance, it is with the rapid inflation in costs across the board in that industry. IMO obviously.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by NinerDoug

Not to defend him, he's obviously a scumbag of the nth degree. However, I would guess that soaking people paying cash for medicine was not what he had in mind. Soaking hospitals and insurance companies was the goal I'm sure.

There is no way that insurance wouldn't negotiate that price down to a fraction of what he wanted to charge.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by jspchief

Legal, but morally reprehensible.

Ironically, he may have brought enough attention to the issue to cause things to change. It's not like price gouging hasn't been addressed by laws in the past.

And just so we're clear, this isn't the same as big pharma. At least big pharma has the excuse of paying for R&D. This guy's company doesn't develop drugs. He just finds drugs with expired patents that have become so commonplace that other pharm companies are content to let it be. He finds legal loopholes to price gouge people.

This wasn't a commonplace drug. It was an orphan dug with an expired patent with a small patient population. Thus, he tried to price gouge a captive audience, like a ballpark beer vendor, but far more villainous.

[Sorter]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

This wasn't a commonplace drug. It was an orphan dug with an expired patent with a small patient population. Thus, he tried to price gouge a captive audience, like a ballpark beer vendor, but far more villainous.

Get the **** out of here with yo logic, homie.

[big nasty kcnut]

I'm for capitalism but not on drugs that can help someone with a terrible disease. Yeah **** that guy. I hope he die in a fire while drinking anti freeze and then hit a aids tree that he can't afford to get the pills to help him because he's so broke.

[ModSocks]

Originally Posted by big nasty kcnut

I'm for capitalism but not on drugs that can help someone with a terrible disease. Yeah **** that guy. I hope he die in a fire while drinking anti freeze and then hit a aids tree that he can't afford to get the pills to help him because he's so broke.

Wow. I had no idea that aids pills grew from aids trees.

[suzzer99]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

This guy was on the breakfast club the other day. He's been making a lot of waves in the rap community lately after buying a Wutang album for $2 million and making a video threatening to smack Ghostface Killah

I didn't watch the entire interview but he says he's from Brooklyn, modest beginnings. His parents were janitors. Now he's worth tens of millions. He came up.

But about hiking the drug price up, he claimed anyone who needs the drug but can't afford it is given it for free and actually over 2/3 of the drug that they "sell" are actually given away to those who can't pay.

Don't know how much of its true but, take it for what it's worth.

Right - he's mostly bilking the government piggy bank, not the consumer, which is how all the smart money is trying to get rich these days. Consumers are fickle, risky business. Govt has endless pockets and is easily bought off with relative chump change. This guy's only problem is he's being way too public/douchey and not playing the game right.

That said, if some kind of real drug pricing reform comes out of this (like the govt can now negotiate with drug companies on Medicare pt. D prices) - this guy will be an accidental hero.

[BlackHelicopters]

This guy may be morally questionable, but raising prices is not illegal.

[BlackHelicopters]

Are we going to legislate morality further?

[suzzer99]

Originally Posted by ChiliConCarnage

Nothing in that sense but I think that's the question. Should it be legal? Die or pay me whatever amount I choose seems like it borders on extortion.

Things like this are why healthcare costs have been increasing so fast for decades and that's part of why wages are stagnant.

Perfect example of why a pure free market in healthcare is a terrible idea.

[jspchief]

Originally Posted by theelusiveeightrop

Are we going to legislate morality further?

Of course not. Only the rich should be able to afford to live healthy lives.

[jspchief]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

This wasn't a commonplace drug. It was an orphan dug with an expired patent with a small patient population. Thus, he tried to price gouge a captive audience, like a ballpark beer vendor, but far more villainous.

Yeah "commonplace" maybe wasn't an accurate description, but it doesn't change the point. He's not a pharmacy company that researches and develops drugs. He's taking advantage of a flaw in the patent system. It's price gouging.