# Martin Shkreli's trial starts today {June 26, 2017} **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 26, 2017, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916 "2017-06-26T14:54:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2020, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916/161 "2020-04-07T23:20:50Z")
Pretty sure the only thing he could develop in three months is herpatic lesions. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2020, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916/162 "2020-04-07T23:55:09Z")
I have never before hoped there is a hell. Thanks, Pharmabro. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916/163 "2020-04-08T00:18:11Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [The Most Punchable Face In America says he can develop a cure for Covid-19 in 3 months!](https://apnews.com/d7209508da9d2edaa0bad6932611b4b0)Dude, you’re a fucking financial predator; what the fuck use would you be in a lab? 😕 > > Shut the fuck up and serve your sentence you piece of shit. I had read that article and I was confused. By his own admission he has no useful skills to help at all, he is an “entrepreneur” and an “executive”. You might as well have NASA’s former top janitor insist he needs to be let out of prison to help successfully put a colony on Mars. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2020, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916/164 "2020-04-08T00:33:56Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I had read that article and I was confused. By his own admission he has no useful skills to help at all, he is an “entrepreneur” and an “executive”. You left off “attention whore”. > [@Atamasama](#): > > You might as well have NASA’s former top janitor insist he needs to be let out of prison to help successfully put a colony on Mars. ikr ---
**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:** [April 8, 2020, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916/165 "2020-04-08T13:52:50Z")
We need a bit of comic relief during these troubled times. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916/166 "2020-04-08T14:27:11Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > We need a bit of comic relief during these troubled times. Agreed, but where can we find an open sewer for Shkreli to fall into? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916/167 "2020-04-08T15:09:18Z")
nvm ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916/168 "2020-04-08T15:17:21Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > This is why some things just shouldn’t be commercialized. > > If we’re in the desert and I’m the only one selling drinkable water for the next 100 miles, and I know you need water, I can charge whatever the hell I want for it (provided I can defend myself of course). > > This is how the healthcare system, and in particular Big Pharma, operates. They corrupt capitalism by using patients’ demand for the drug (like they need it to friggin live, essentially) and they compound that by virtue of the fact that they, with the help of congress, control the supply. > > This is how oligarchy works, and it’s not just in healthcare but it’s also creeping into other aspects of the American economy – take the housing crisis in cities like Seattle, for instance. You want to stay in this apartment another year? Okay, well I want you to stay, too, but I’m raising your rates from $1000 / month to $2000 – because I can, because the guy down the street has a crappier version of my place and he’s charging $1750 / month, and he’s got waiting lists even. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a city council meeting to attend. They’re proposing building a new apartment complex nearby and I want to be sure my buddies on the Council vote it down so we can jack up the rent even more. There is a fairly good argument for government control of goods with inelastic demand curves. There is a much lower argument for services with inelastic demand curves. The government can control profit margins on goods but can they (should they) control what you get for your services? shelter does not have an inelastic demand curve. Very few people MUST live in Seattle. They can live in a suburb or a slum of Seattle and pay lower rent. Rent is not the same things as a 150,000% premium on a life saving drug. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916/169 "2020-04-08T15:22:45Z")
BTW, did you know that Trump pardoned Michael Milken a couple of months ago? I know he has done a ton of charity work and other good stuff to rehabilitate himself but you have to wonder if being worth $4 Billion had anything to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916/170 "2020-04-08T16:21:00Z")
Sure, other people might come up with a cure, but without Shkreli who will think to charge thousands of dollars for it? ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916/171 "2020-04-08T16:35:55Z")
It is a measure of just how low Shkreli’s reputation has fallen that even if he somehow was able to discover a cure for COVID-19 and distributed it for free, everyone would still continue to hate him. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916/172 "2020-04-08T17:26:52Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Agreed, but where can we find an open sewer for Shkreli to fall into? Let’s just drop an anvil on him. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916/173 "2020-04-08T19:12:57Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I had read that article and I was confused. By his own admission he has no useful skills to help at all, he is an “entrepreneur” and an “executive”. > > You might as well have NASA’s former top janitor insist he needs to be let out of prison to help successfully put a colony on Mars. I have worked as a scientist in the pharmaceutical industry for 20 years. I assure you that the executives nearly always believe that they are the ones curing the diseases, and that the rest of us are interchangeable at best and expendable at worst. The CFO at my last company called us “little bags with dollar signs on them with legs”. I don’t work there anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916/174 "2020-04-08T19:39:36Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > Sure, other people might come up with a cure, but without Shkreli who will think to charge thousands of dollars for it? Trump. Next question, please. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916/175 "2020-04-08T20:10:44Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > I have worked as a scientist in the pharmaceutical industry for 20 years. I assure you that the executives nearly always believe that they are the ones curing the diseases, and that the rest of us are interchangeable at best and expendable at worst. > > The CFO at my last company called us “little bags with dollar signs on them with legs”. I don’t work there anymore. The executives really do think that they’re the ones creating the wealth. They see the workers as a commodity that they use to do so. (Damnit, I sound like a communist, which I’m not, but the attitude really does gall me.) ---
**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:** [April 9, 2020, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916/176 "2020-04-09T00:08:16Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > I have worked as a scientist in the pharmaceutical industry for 20 years. I assure you that the executives nearly always believe that they are the ones curing the diseases, and that the rest of us are interchangeable at best and expendable at worst. > > The CFO at my last company called us “little bags with dollar signs on them with legs”. I don’t work there anymore. I work in the trade show industry and that’s what we call executives with pharmaceutical companies! ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916/177 "2020-04-09T00:45:45Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I work in the trade show industry and that’s what we call executives with pharmaceutical companies! I was there and did that! The biz is a license to print money because we were deductible. OTOH, no other industry I worked in had deadlines near as serious. ---
**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:** [January 14, 2022, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916/178 "2022-01-14T21:12:52Z")
Here’s some news: > **[Shkreli ordered to return $64M, is barred from drug industry](https://apnews.com/article/martin-shkreli-daraprim-profits-fb77aee9ed155f9a74204cfb13fc1130)** > > A federal judge has ordered Martin Shkreli to return $64.6 million in profits reaped from inflating the price of a lifesaving drug and barred him from the pharmaceutical industry for the rest of his life. > [@](#): > > Martin Shkreli must return $64.6 million in profits he and his former company reaped from jacking up the price and monopolizing the market for a lifesaving drug, a federal judge ruled Friday while also barring the [provocative, imprisoned ex-CEO](https://apnews.com/hub/martin-shkreli)from the pharmaceutical industry for the rest of his life. > > U.S. District Judge Denise Cote’s ruling came several weeks after a seven-day bench trial in December that featured recordings of conversations that Cote said showed Shkreli continuing to exert control over the company, Vyera Pharmaceuticals LLC, from behind bars and discussing ways to thwart generic versions of its lucrative drug, Daraprim. > > “Shkreli was no side player in, or a ‘remote, unrelated’ beneficiary of Vyera’s scheme,” Cote wrote in a 135-page opinion. “He was the mastermind of its illegal conduct and the person principally responsible for it throughout the years.” > [@](#): > > “‘Envy, greed, lust, and hate,’ don’t just ‘separate,’ but they obviously motivated Mr. Shkreli and his partner to illegally jack up the price of a life-saving drug as Americans’ lives hung in the balance,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said, peppering the written statement with references to the Wu-Tang Clan, [whose one-of-a-kind album Shkreli had to fork over to satisfy court debt.](https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-health-arts-and-entertainment-hip-hop-and-rap-27c6db9de6efbc845418658a36386379) > > “But Americans can rest easy because Martin Shkreli is a pharma bro no more.” 😃 👍🏼 ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916/179 "2022-01-14T21:23:43Z")
I see someone headed for a new career in Republican politics. ---
**Author:** ![arles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71c47a/32.png) [@arles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arles)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916/180 "2022-05-19T04:22:25Z")
Guess who got released from prison today. Off to a halfway house. [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/18/martin-shkreli-release-prison-early](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/18/martin-shkreli-release-prison-early) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-shkrelis-trial-starts-today-june-26-2017/789916.md?page=10)