Martin Shkreli, a pharmaceutical executive appeared before the U.S. Congress last week. The senate is investigating the exorbitant pricing by pharmaceutical companies of life saving drugs. His company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, bought a drug called Daraprim, which is used to treat a disease that can be fatal to H.I.V. patients. After buying the drug, Turing raised its price from less than thirteen dollars per tablet to seven hundred and fifty dollars. There were many involved in the industry who called the increase unjustifiable.
In a previous interview Shkreli showed little patience for anyone who failed to understand why higher prices and higher profits could be good for the industry and for patients. He has stated that he didn’t go far enough when he hiked the price of Daraprim by more than 5,000% overnight. If he had to do it over again he said he would have raised the prices even more. He has said that his job isn’t about making patients better, it’s about making money.
As CEO of a company, there is no doubt that he has a responsibility to make a profit. But at what cost? Surely the health and wellbeing of patients should enter the equation or maybe that’s just too simplistic. My issue with this guy is the attitude that he displayed during his appearance on Capitol Hill.
He took the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer questions on the grounds that he might incriminate himself. Fair enough, he was taking the advice of his council and he’s entitled to do that. But his smug, over confident attitude was hard to stomach. He sat there with a silly smirk on his face like a school child who was pretending that he wasn’t embarrassed. He presented himself as an arrogant, greedy, smart ass.
He’s 32 years old so he’s no longer a kid and hopefully, someday this muppet will grow up. Maybe he’s just a slow starter.