# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/121 "2015-09-28T14:08:48Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > is a homeopathic version available? Sure, just write the drug’s name on a piece of paper, throw it in the ocean, fly to another part of the ocean, take out a cup of seawater and drink it down. The guy is a scumbag and so are his apologists. The patent process allows the researchers to get some return on their investments. Once it goes generic, the free market will keep the price reasonable except in rare cases where a little used generic drug is made by only one company. I think it could be fixed by a simple regulation whereby if only one company makes a generic drug their price must be limited to production costs plus a reasonable profit. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/122 "2015-09-28T15:55:34Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Sure, just write the drug’s name on a piece of paper, throw it in the ocean, fly to another part of the ocean, take out a cup of seawater and drink it down. > > The guy is a scumbag and so are his apologists. The patent process allows the researchers to get some return on their investments. Once it goes generic, the free market will keep the price reasonable except in rare cases where a little used generic drug is made by only one company. I think it could be fixed by a simple regulation whereby if only one company makes a generic drug their price must be limited to production costs plus a reasonable profit. I hope I’m not being lumped in as an apologist. I think he’s a scumbag too. I’m just arguing against throwing out babies with bathwater. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/123 "2015-09-28T16:40:00Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > I hope I’m not being lumped in as an apologist. I think he’s a scumbag too. I’m just arguing against throwing out babies with bathwater. I don’t think you’re a scumbag and I don’t think anyone’s throwing out the baby with the bath. The drug was developed long ago and the research presumably was paid for by the users during the life of the patent. For someone to come along now and buy the only company making this now generic drug for the sole purpose of raping patients has nothing to do with researchers getting paid for their efforts. ---
**Author:** ![Rob\_da\_Reese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rob\_da\_Reese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rob_da_Reese)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/124 "2015-09-30T08:38:50Z")
I know where I stand on the matter (he’s an a\*\*hole) but that doesn’t mean I’m closing my ears to other sides of the argument. There are plenty of counter-opinions on him and his recent actions. What do you all think? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/125 "2015-09-30T08:42:15Z")
Reported for forum change. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/126 "2015-09-30T09:47:47Z")
Do i want to Google this person? ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/127 "2015-09-30T09:55:55Z")
He’s the guy who bought sole rights to a drug and then hiked the price 5000%. [Here](http://s13.postimg.org/pplezlf13/s_Zsi9_Xw_LEo7_PFb6q_Sb7_GOatm_PYR4_QY79_EXt_SDZd8_Sa7e_Ao7u.jpg) (image) is the Cracked summary, with helpful devil horns. As for my response, I haven’t heard any counter opinions. The only defense I’ve seen is “Well, he can”, which is basically nothing; implicitly conceding that it may be immoral but anyway, that’s business. The only other defense I can imagine is that it might encourage investment into pharma, but I don’t think that would stand up (it wouldn’t defend his individual action for one, just suggest there might be good consequences). It would simply seem he’s a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/128 "2015-09-30T09:59:15Z")
I would say ‘No’ and reserve much stronger words to describe that unconscionable behind. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/129 "2015-09-30T10:10:15Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/130 "2015-09-30T10:14:01Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > He’s the guy who bought sole rights to a drug and then hiked the price 5000%. > > [Here](http://s13.postimg.org/pplezlf13/s_Zsi9_Xw_LEo7_PFb6q_Sb7_GOatm_PYR4_QY79_EXt_SDZd8_Sa7e_Ao7u.jpg) (image) is the Cracked summary, with helpful devil horns. > > As for my response, I haven’t heard any counter opinions. The only defense I’ve seen is “Well, he can”, which is basically nothing; implicitly conceding that it may be immoral but anyway, that’s business. > The only other defense I can imagine is that it might encourage investment into pharma, but I don’t think that would stand up (it wouldn’t defend his individual action for one, just suggest there might be good consequences). > > It would simply seem he’s a jerk. Oh, him. Asshole, and one of the worst type - the ones who act totally within the letter of the law. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/131 "2015-09-30T11:20:34Z")
Moved from General Questions IMHO. **samclem** , moderator ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/132 "2015-09-30T12:48:49Z")
> [@Rob\_da\_Reese](#): > > I know where I stand on the matter (he’s an a\*\*hole) but that doesn’t mean I’m closing my ears to other sides of the argument. _“The Daily Beast reported Monday that in response to outrage over Daraprim’s new price, Shkreli had tweeted that it was “a great thing for society” and tweeted lyrics to an Eminem song referencing giving the media the middle finger.”_ > **[Turing pharma CEO recedes from public after backtracking on drug price hike](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2015/09/23/turing-pharmaceuticals-ceo-martin-shkreli-will-lower-price-of-daraprim/72670124/)** > > Martin Shkreli is apparently done defending himself to the media and public. “Other sides of the argument” are out there, but “asshole” seems to be a completely accurate characterization. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/133 "2015-09-30T13:22:29Z")
It’s possible he’s not an asshole, but he’s sure doing a good imitation of one. I’m sure his mother loves him though. ---
**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 30, 2015, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/134 "2015-09-30T14:13:49Z")
He says he knows he’s an a-hole, but that he’s not - and I’m quoting him here - ‘one hundred percent a dick’. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/135 "2015-09-30T14:41:15Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > It’s possible he’s not an asshole, but he’s sure doing a good imitation of one. > > I’m sure his mother loves him though. We were discussing this at work (100% consensus here that he is indeed an asshole) and I said I hoped his mother slapped him upside his head. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/136 "2015-09-30T14:56:00Z")
> [@Rob\_da\_Reese](#): > > I know where I stand on the matter (he’s an a\*\*hole) but that doesn’t mean I’m closing my ears to other sides of the argument. > > There are plenty of counter-opinions on him and his recent actions. What do you all think? **Rob da Reese** , there’s already an existing thread on the topic that has been going on for a while. I’ve merged your thread with that thread. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/137 "2015-09-30T15:19:24Z")
> [@fubaya](#): > > i think he’s just trying to get rich quick and pay off his former company and hedge fund investors. The question is, was he trying to do it by making money off the drug or **_by making politicians get interested in pricing and causing panic in the market so he could short sell other drug company stocks_?** ding ding ding!!! ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/138 "2015-09-30T15:30:17Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I guess you’re right. Without the profit motive and patenting of the medication, the Salk and Sabin polio vaccines wouldn’t have been developed and the country could have hundreds of thousands or millions of polio sufferers instead of a couple of guys having $7 billion from the patents. Neither Salk nor Sabin patented their vaccines. [Interesting article on how much money they would have made had they done so](http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2012/08/09/how-much-money-did-jonas-salk-potentially-forfeit-by-not-patenting-the-polio-vaccine/) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/139 "2015-09-30T15:41:49Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > > [@bup](#): > > > > I think the government has a chance to send a message here. This drug is 70 years old or whatever; I think it’s safe to import. They should allow importation of this one drug. > > I don’t. Government policy shouldn’t be set punitively because we don’t like this guy. That would not be a case of government policy being set punitively because we don’t like this guy; it would be a case of government policy being set so that sick people who need the drug to survive do not die because they cannot afford it. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144/140 "2015-09-30T16:07:29Z")
In an even more egregious example of the pricing BS Americans put up with, manufacturer Valeant increased the cost of heart-rhythm drug Isuprel by 500%. A single-ml went from $215 to over $1300. \*\*\*Isuprel is over sixty years old. \*\*\* I can’t find the exact date of its release, but I did find a 1949 article about its use for asthma in the New England Journal of Medicine. [Congress has asked Valeant to explain itself](http://www.wsj.com/articles/bernie-sanders-elijah-cummings-question-valeant-on-heart-drug-price-increases-1439574723). Valeant ignored the deadline on the original letter. Let’s see if they answer on the extended deadline. Disgusting. How much more do we have to put up with as a country before saying enough? Will it take pitchforks and torches and the guillotine? Because I’m personally getting to that level of anger. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hedge-fund-manager-buys-rights-to-critical-drug-hikes-price-by-5000/732144.md?page=8)