Big Pharma CEO Martin Shkreli pledged his support and donated to Bernie Sanders last week. So how did Bernie respond? By taking the money and giving it to a health clinic in Washington.
Published: October 17, 2015 | Authors:
Elizabeth Miller
| NationofChange | News Report
Remember Martin Shkreli? In case you don’t, Shkreli, CEO of Turking Pharmaceuticals, is the man that raised the price of a drug last month by 4,000 percent—from $13.50 to $750 per pill. The drug, Daraprim, is the only treatment of a rare parasitic infection.
It turns out Shkreli is a supporter of Bernie Sanders. If you think this is odd, you are not alone. Sanders has long been a proponent of lowering prices for prescription drugs, even proposing to let people import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada, and calling for Medicare to lower drug prices. But Shkreli doesn’t like Hillary Clinton, claimining: “I don’t think she really stands for anything. At least Bernie’s passionate and really kind of provocative.”
Shkreli tweeted his support for Sanders live during this week’s Democratic National Debate and has been trying to get a meeting with the Vermont Senator for weeks. He was been repeatedly turned away though, resulting in him making a $2,700 donation in an effort to get Sanders’ attention. On Thursday, Michael Briggs, campaign spokesman for Bernie Sanders, announced that “We are not keeping the money from this poster boy for drug company greed,” but will instead make a $2,700 donation to Whitman-Walker health clinic in Washington.
Although Shrekli supports Sanders call for free public college and mental health care, he doesn’t agree with his stance on drug prices. He claims that he donated in an effort to get a meeting with Sanders in order to explain why drug companies set the prices the way that they do.
Now that Sanders has both refused a meeting and donated his money elsewhere, Shrekli is angry: “I think it’s cheap to use one person’s action as a platform without kind of talking to that person,” Shkreli said in the interview. “He’ll take my money, but he won’t engage with me for five minutes to understand this issue better.”
He isn’t worried about the laws changing any time soon though: “Right now the rule of law in the United States is that drug companies can price their products wherever they see fit, not wherever he sees fit,” Shkreli said. “If the rule changes by congressional vote, then you know, I’ll adapt to the rules.”
Shkreli also tweeted about his donation during the Democratic National Debate on Tuesday, along with the claim that soaring drug prices are what pays for research and development on drugs for the future.
So what do you think? Did Bernie make the right move? Do you agree with Shkreli that it is okay to raise the price of a drug by 4,000 percent to make up for paying for research and development?
Remember Martin Shkreli? In case you don’t, Shkreli, CEO of Turking Pharmaceuticals, is the man that raised the price of a drug last month by 4,000 percent—from $13.50 to $750 per pill. The drug, Daraprim, is the only treatment of a rare parasitic infection.
It turns out Shkreli is a supporter of Bernie Sanders. If you think this is odd, you are not alone. Sanders has long been a proponent of lowering prices for prescription drugs, even proposing to let people import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada, and calling for Medicare to lower drug prices. But Shkreli doesn’t like Hillary Clinton, claimining: “I don’t think she really stands for anything. At least Bernie’s passionate and really kind of provocative.”
Shkreli tweeted his support for Sanders live during this week’s Democratic National Debate and has been trying to get a meeting with the Vermont Senator for weeks. He was been repeatedly turned away though, resulting in him making a $2,700 donation in an effort to get Sanders’ attention. On Thursday, Michael Briggs, campaign spokesman for Bernie Sanders, announced that “We are not keeping the money from this poster boy for drug company greed,” but will instead make a $2,700 donation to Whitman-Walker health clinic in Washington.
Although Shrekli supports Sanders call for free public college and mental health care, he doesn’t agree with his stance on drug prices. He claims that he donated in an effort to get a meeting with Sanders in order to explain why drug companies set the prices the way that they do.
Now that Sanders has both refused a meeting and donated his money elsewhere, Shrekli is angry: “I think it’s cheap to use one person’s action as a platform without kind of talking to that person,” Shkreli said in the interview. “He’ll take my money, but he won’t engage with me for five minutes to understand this issue better.”
He isn’t worried about the laws changing any time soon though: “Right now the rule of law in the United States is that drug companies can price their products wherever they see fit, not wherever he sees fit,” Shkreli said. “If the rule changes by congressional vote, then you know, I’ll adapt to the rules.”
Shkreli also tweeted about his donation during the Democratic National Debate on Tuesday, along with the claim that soaring drug prices are what pays for research and development on drugs for the future.
So what do you think? Did Bernie make the right move? Do you agree with Shkreli that it is okay to raise the price of a drug by 4,000 percent to make up for paying for research and development?
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