“Pharma Bro” Emails Reveal Just How Greedy Drug Companies Can Be
“We raised the price from $1,700 per bottle to $75,000 . . . 5,000 paying bottles at the new price is $375,000,000 — almost all of it is profit.”
Those are the words of Turning Pharmaceuticals’ then CEO Martin Shkreli, describing the profits his company would reap by raising the price of the antiparasitic medication Daraprim by 5,556 percent (from $13.50 per pill to $750 per pill). This is just one excerpt of the so called “Pharma Bro” emails Shkreli (who is in his early 30s) wrote that were released to the public by Congress’ House Government Reform and Oversight Committee earlier this year. Daraprim is a life saving medication that fights the deadly infection called toxoplasmosis, which regularly kills many HIV and AIDS patients.
Why raise the price so much? Is the pill that expensive to make? No, the reason for raising the price of the medication from $1,700 per bottle to $75,000 per bottle was purely for profit. Basically, Turning Pharmaceuticals raised the price because they could. They didn’t have a competitor.
The release of these emails caused quite a stir and the backlash of outrage led to Shkreli resigning his post at Turning Pharmaceuticals. He was also subpoenaed, along with other pharmaceutical executives, to testify before Congress. What these emails display is just how much unchecked power pharmaceutical companies wield over consumers. Millions of Americans rely on medications to maintain their health on a daily basis. The pharmaceutical industry knows this and is not above charging exorbitant prices for many of their products.
While it’s true that a lot of the money pharmaceutical companies make goes into research, it is not always the case. Daraprim has been around since 1953 and is on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines, having been used to prevent malaria and other infections for many years. If you feel you’re being gouged for medication vital to your health, you need to consult an aggressive pharmaceutical litigation attorney.
Farah & Farah believes in fighting large corporation on behalf of the common man. We are currently investigating pharmaceutical injury claims nationwide. Call us today for a free consultation at (800) 533-3555.
