# Hedge Fund Manager Buys Rights To Critical Drug, Hikes Price By 5000% **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 21, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144 "2015-09-21T20:02:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/61 "2015-09-23T16:40:52Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > There is absolutely nothing stopping you, physically or legally, from making [Daraprim](http://www.vox.com/2015/9/22/9373557/daraprim-competitor-turing) yourself and selling it at a loss to help mankind or simply handing it out on an as needed basis. Great. I can have the precursors overnighted from Aldrich and make my first sales this weekend. You’re sure nothing is stopping me? Because I don’t have any pressing desire to get on Stephen Ostroff’s naughty list. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/62 "2015-09-23T16:50:40Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Great. I can have the precursors overnighted from Aldrich and make my first sales this weekend. > > You’re sure nothing is stopping me? Because I don’t have any pressing desire to get on Stephen Ostroff’s naughty list. Absolutely nothing stopping you. You get off his naughty list by spending the time, and money, getting the generic version manufactured and approved. This is not going to be cheap (though not nearly as time consuming or expensive as the process for a new drug). But, since the goal is helping patients, and not money, surely some of this outrage will be harnessed into this worthy goal? ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/63 "2015-09-23T17:06:47Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Why look for another reason beyond the obvious one? It’s getting a lot of play because an important and inexpensive generic drug had it’s price increased %5000 overnight. That not only harms people who need this particular drug, but it exposes a flaw in the market which could bite any number of us at any time. > > And the fact that it isn’t illegal justifies nothing. It’s unethical and immoral. I’m not claiming it’s ethical or moral, and in fact have spent the last decade telling everyone who would listen about all the nasty ways we’re all being screwed by our for-profit healthcare system. (I’m a healthcare socialist, despite working in healthcare Big Data.) My intent in the post was to point out that [this](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/23/business/drug-companies-pushed-from-far-and-wide-to-explain-high-prices.html?_r=0)[happens](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/08/business/officials-question-the-rising-costs-of-generic-drugs.html)[all](http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2014/11/generic_drug_prices_why_their_prices_are_suddenly_surging.html)[the](http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2015/02/27/why-are-generic-drug-prices-shooting-up/)[time](http://www.franchiseherald.com/articles/34576/20150807/allergan-received-subpoena-from-us-doj-part-of-governments-probe-in-generic-drug-pricing.htm), but the subject rarely gets any traction in the country’s conversation about health care problems. And I’m saying that it did this time because of what I mentioned in my previous post. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/64 "2015-09-23T17:10:06Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > I’m not defending this particular guy, but the rhetoric that drugs should be developed to help mankind even if that means losing lots of money rings false when not a single person is willing to do it. Losing money? Huh? ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/65 "2015-09-23T17:11:53Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Why look for another reason beyond the obvious one? It’s getting a lot of play because an important and inexpensive generic drug had it’s price increased %5000 overnight. That not only harms people who need this particular drug, but it exposes a flaw in the market which could bite any number of us at any time. > > And the fact that it isn’t illegal justifies nothing. It’s unethical and immoral. I’m not claiming it’s ethical or moral, and I don’t know where the hell you got that. I’m stating as a fact that what this guy is doing is nothing new. [It](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/23/business/drug-companies-pushed-from-far-and-wide-to-explain-high-prices.html?_r=0) [happens](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/08/business/officials-question-the-rising-costs-of-generic-drugs.html) [all](http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2014/11/generic_drug_prices_why_their_prices_are_suddenly_surging.html) [the](http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2015/02/27/why-are-generic-drug-prices-shooting-up/) [time](http://www.franchiseherald.com/articles/34576/20150807/allergan-received-subpoena-from-us-doj-part-of-governments-probe-in-generic-drug-pricing.htm), but the subject rarely gets any traction in the country’s conversation about health care costs. I’m saying that the subject got some traction this time because it’s an election year and the guy looks like a jerk. Yes, it’s wrong, but I can show you a hundred more links where faceless companies did the same damn thing, and it didn’t show up in anyone’s FaceBook feed or lead the nightly news. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/66 "2015-09-23T17:14:44Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Absolutely nothing stopping you. You get off his naughty list by spending the time, and money, getting the generic version manufactured and approved. This is not going to be cheap (though not nearly as time consuming or expensive as the process for a new drug). But, since the goal is helping patients, and not money, surely some of this outrage will be harnessed into this worthy goal? One of Shrkeli’s shenanigans seems to involve [restricted distribution](http://www.pharmacytimes.com/contributor/monica-v-golik-mahoney-pharmd-bcps-aq-id/2015/07/new-pyrimethamine-dispensing-program-what-pharmacists-should-know), which makes it harder to acquire enough Daraprim to run clinical trials showing that your new generic pyrimethamine formulation works just the same. > [@Ruken](#): > > Is this the case with pyrimethamine? I thought this was just a reduction of two U.S. manufacturers to one. > > Plenty of the stuff being made elsewhere, just not cert’d for import. Yet. I’m not entirely sure. I’ve seen the phrase “exclusive marketing rights” thrown around a few times. In my lunch-break googling, it appears that Turing bought rights to Daraprim from Impact Labs, which bought it from Amedra, which bought it from GSK… Does “exclusive” just mean nobody else has gone through the trouble to get FDA approval to make a generic, or they did and they were bought out? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/67 "2015-09-23T17:21:22Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Losing money? Huh? This one example is being used to suggest policies such as Hillary Clinton’s proposals yesterday. This example is not typical. Not to say that it doesn’t ever happen, but it is enough of an anomaly that it shouldn’t be used to set broad policies on drug prices. And, yet that’s what the rhetoric seems to be. Everyone seems to think that there is a number above which a drug should not cost. This is silly. In this case, I get the outrage. Really, I do. I might even be willing to join in on the outrage if it were limited to this one example. But, when the OP starts off demonizing an entire industry with: > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Good. If you have to kill people to make money, you shouldn’t be in business. > > In my humble opinion. that’s where you lose me. And, I know that the rhetoric is little more than posturing, because as I point out, you have an option to do something about it other than just sharing facebook outrage. This drug is off patent. You can make and sell it. You can sell it at whatever price seems fair. Even if that means losing money. Why is no one doing this? If you think that you can develop a drug, and sell it for whatever dollar amount you think is fair, there is nothing stopping you from trying. If it’s that easy to develop a drug and sell it for a few dollars a month, then why is no one doing it? ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/68 "2015-09-23T17:23:43Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Absolutely nothing stopping you. You get off his naughty list by spending the time, and money, getting the generic version manufactured and approved. This is not going to be cheap (though not nearly as time consuming or expensive as the process for a new drug). I’ll have this drug Friday. Thank you for confirming that the government is stopping me from selling it. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/69 "2015-09-23T17:28:53Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > I’ll have this drug Friday. Thank you for confirming that the government is stopping me from selling it. The only thing stopping you is you. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/70 "2015-09-23T17:36:44Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > The only thing stopping you is you. I’ll keep that in mind next time I’m tempted to break federal law. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/71 "2015-09-23T17:40:55Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > I’ll keep that in mind next time I’m tempted to break federal law. You are allowed to make generic [pyrimethamine/Darapram](http://www.vox.com/2015/9/22/9373557/daraprim-competitor-turing). I’m going to need a citation as to what federal law you are pretending bars you from doing so. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/72 "2015-09-23T17:42:09Z")
Re: Libertarians and Republicans (who are not libertarian) Libertarians wouldn’t restrict the access to the drug and would allow for importing, buying on the black market, whatever. You know, freedom/liberty. There are no legit libertarian thinkers who would be celebrating this guy and supporting using the government to subsidize his business. Yes, he is using government force in many ways to get that price. Outside of the Hoppe-worshippers and other nutbags who support long-discredited political strategies, I don’t know any libertarians who support protectionism and government favors for clowns like this guy. Maybe guys like Trump, a non-libertarian who has been sued and ridiculed by libertarian institutions for decades, support this guy as some sort of business genius. Perhaps there are some “free marketers” on the Ayn Rand virtue of selfishness and greed tip who are like “Ah, good for him for making a buck,” but in general libertarians want people to be able to make a buck but don’t support government restricting trade in ways that harms consumers for the benefit of corporations. That’s why (among other things) libertarians have been advocating and taking action against things that, ahem Dems/Liberals support, like tax funding for billionaires to build sports stadiums and seizing homes to give property to the makers of Viagra. Not to mention probably even more important things (and yes, many libertarians consider non-economic or less directly economic things to be important) like being lone voices in the anti-police brutality beat until it became fashionable. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/73 "2015-09-23T17:42:32Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > You are allowed to make generic [pyrimethamine/Darapram](http://www.vox.com/2015/9/22/9373557/daraprim-competitor-turing). I’m going to need a citation as to what federal law you are pretending bars you from doing so. Sure I can make it. I can make it this week. Hell, it’s a great project for an undergrad. Who can I sell it to? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/74 "2015-09-23T17:48:39Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Sure I can make it. I can make it this week. Hell, it’s a great project for an undergrad. Who can I sell it to? Any one of the 8-12 thousand people with a prescription. I’m not sure what you are missing here. Once you prove to the FDA that your generic molecule is identical to the original, you are allowed to sell it. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/75 "2015-09-23T17:51:36Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Any one of the 8-12 thousand people with a prescription. I’m not sure what you are missing here. Once you prove to the FDA that your generic molecule is identical to the original, you are allowed to sell it. Great. I have a buyer lined up for Saturday. Please tell me how to proceed. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/76 "2015-09-23T17:54:34Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Great. I have a buyer lined up for Saturday. Please tell me how to proceed. Great, so we dispensed with the issue that you aren’t breaking federal law, and are on to the issue that developing a drug is very, very difficult, time consuming and expensive, and you can’t do it if you can’t provide profits to yourself and your investors. Again, not defending this guy. He researched and developed nothing. But, using him as the example of all drug development is lazy. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/77 "2015-09-23T17:57:41Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Great, so we dispensed with the issue that you aren’t breaking federal law, and are on to the issue that developing a drug is very, very difficult, time consuming and expensive, and you can’t do it if you can’t provide profits to yourself and your investors. How do I proceed with my sale? After all, “nothing is stopping” me. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/78 "2015-09-23T18:11:51Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > How do I proceed with my sale? After all, “nothing is stopping” me. If you’re looking for a business consultant, I know a guy. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/79 "2015-09-23T18:16:00Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > If you’re looking for a business consultant, I know a guy. Maybe we should take this offline. I know a shady alley. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/80 "2015-09-23T18:21:29Z")
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