6 thoughts on “Martin Shkreli, the Bad Boy of Pharmaceuticals, Hits Back”
This guy's undoubtedly easy to hate, but it's like the Chargers fans here getting mad at the team owner's attorney/spokesman (and boy do they hate him). Shkreli's not the problem: the system is the problem. If we think the only way to induce Big Pharma to invent cool new drugs is a continuous Golden Shower of Money from the sick, we can't blame one entrepreneur for working that system to his advantage.
Funny thing: women (including my ex-wife) die all the time from breast cancer and the only pharmaceutical treatment available lasts for months, costs plenty, and often doesn't work. Whereas when middle-aged men can't get it up, there's a reasonably cheap, highly effective one-pill solution available STAT.
And did anyone else notice that Shy changed the Wonkville subhead?
The headlines are much much longer but that eats up space on the right-hand sidebar and makes it harder to read. Can make the URL turn wonky too. As the worst offender I'll start putting my excess verbiage in the first comment instead.
I can't afford the gall bladder removal surgery I need but there is a drug you can take (for life or until you get the surgery) that will reduce the stones. I managed to get a 3-month dose from Costco for $42 and when I tried to refill it the price had gone up to $450 or so! My doc suggested I try Canada and I found a place there that can fill a 3-month for $140. But we know we shouldn't order from Canada BECAUSE IT MIGHT NOT BE THE EXACT SAME!!!
Drugs are always cheaper in other countries although of course in Africa they're often 'watered-down' or just plain crap.
Big Pharma claims they have to make back the billions they spend in research (this research is somehow not a deductible business expense?) but do they have to do it in the first five years of the patent? Which they manage to extend by bringing out a newer 'improved' version. Drugs were not even considered worth addressing in the medical legislation of the 1960s due to their longtime low cost. The Invisible Hand of the Free Market strikes again!
I've been getting statins (generic equivalents to Tricor and Lipitor) from Canadadrugs.com for five or six years. The drugs come from various suspicious locations around the world, like some place called "England," but I haven't died yet and my cholesterol is heroically low.
I'm in the process of moving my health care to the VA, where prescriptions are a flat $9/month. Damn socialized medicine.
Thanks, I'll check that site out. I'm on Pravastatin myself as well as a couple of blood pressure meds, generic Paxil, oxybutinin to help me empty my bladder, the regular stuff that a person who never took care of himself in younger years now relies on.
Another thing that burns my ass, aside from a flame three feet high, is how pharmacies so often change the drugs they have on their 'approved'/cheap list. I swear I have to go to two or three different places each year for a single drug. My doc, actually a great nurse practitioner, is very patient about using her laptop to search for the cheapest price and fill it from right there in the exam room and even she's frustrated with the current state of pharmaceutical operation.
I think medical tourism will really take off in the next few decades. A colonoscopy in Mexico can be $800 rather than $4,000 in the U.S. A lot of radiology and other tests are sent out to India by big companies anyway. The estimate for my gall bladder removal over 10 years ago was $12,000 with me (I had insurance then) having to pony up $2400. Hell, I'd rather fly to Cuba and maybe have it done for a tenth of that. And bring back a couple of fifths of Havana Club rum and some cigars to boot!
This guy's undoubtedly easy to hate, but it's like the Chargers fans here getting mad at the team owner's attorney/spokesman (and boy do they hate him). Shkreli's not the problem: the system is the problem. If we think the only way to induce Big Pharma to invent cool new drugs is a continuous Golden Shower of Money from the sick, we can't blame one entrepreneur for working that system to his advantage.
Funny thing: women (including my ex-wife) die all the time from breast cancer and the only pharmaceutical treatment available lasts for months, costs plenty, and often doesn't work. Whereas when middle-aged men can't get it up, there's a reasonably cheap, highly effective one-pill solution available STAT.
And did anyone else notice that Shy changed the Wonkville subhead?
The headlines are much much longer but that eats up space on the right-hand sidebar and makes it harder to read. Can make the URL turn wonky too. As the worst offender I'll start putting my excess verbiage in the first comment instead.
I can't afford the gall bladder removal surgery I need but there is a drug you can take (for life or until you get the surgery) that will reduce the stones. I managed to get a 3-month dose from Costco for $42 and when I tried to refill it the price had gone up to $450 or so! My doc suggested I try Canada and I found a place there that can fill a 3-month for $140. But we know we shouldn't order from Canada BECAUSE IT MIGHT NOT BE THE EXACT SAME!!!
Drugs are always cheaper in other countries although of course in Africa they're often 'watered-down' or just plain crap.
Big Pharma claims they have to make back the billions they spend in research (this research is somehow not a deductible business expense?) but do they have to do it in the first five years of the patent? Which they manage to extend by bringing out a newer 'improved' version. Drugs were not even considered worth addressing in the medical legislation of the 1960s due to their longtime low cost. The Invisible Hand of the Free Market strikes again!
I've been getting statins (generic equivalents to Tricor and Lipitor) from Canadadrugs.com for five or six years. The drugs come from various suspicious locations around the world, like some place called "England," but I haven't died yet and my cholesterol is heroically low.
I'm in the process of moving my health care to the VA, where prescriptions are a flat $9/month. Damn socialized medicine.
Thanks, I'll check that site out. I'm on Pravastatin myself as well as a couple of blood pressure meds, generic Paxil, oxybutinin to help me empty my bladder, the regular stuff that a person who never took care of himself in younger years now relies on.
Another thing that burns my ass, aside from a flame three feet high, is how pharmacies so often change the drugs they have on their 'approved'/cheap list. I swear I have to go to two or three different places each year for a single drug. My doc, actually a great nurse practitioner, is very patient about using her laptop to search for the cheapest price and fill it from right there in the exam room and even she's frustrated with the current state of pharmaceutical operation.
I think medical tourism will really take off in the next few decades. A colonoscopy in Mexico can be $800 rather than $4,000 in the U.S. A lot of radiology and other tests are sent out to India by big companies anyway. The estimate for my gall bladder removal over 10 years ago was $12,000 with me (I had insurance then) having to pony up $2400. Hell, I'd rather fly to Cuba and maybe have it done for a tenth of that. And bring back a couple of fifths of Havana Club rum and some cigars to boot!
yeah, my sister, the nurse, bitches about teh socialism…I'm not exactly sure why
My sister, the nurse, b*tches about socialism because…I dunno.
BTW, someone needs to send me the list of banned words, because…damn.