CEO buys AIDS drug and jacks up the price by 4,100%

[Lacius]

..........You guys know that if he lowers the price then the goverment is just going to buy out his drug and then take it off the shelves right?

There's no history of something like this happening in modern history, and it wasn't happening before the price increase.

 

[Feeling it!]

I doubt they would do that since we are talking about what it is being sold for to consumers. Pfizer or some other pharma company is way way way more likely to do that

True however I always get paranoid with advances in technology when money gets involved.
Get my tinfoil armor.

 

[JoostinOnline]

..........You guys know that if he lowers the price then the goverment is just going to buy out his drug and then take it off the shelves right?

As I've stated many times, there was never any problem with him increasing it, as there are several generics available. The whole thing was blown out of proportion. The discussion has moved on. After a few years (I think 10), anyone can legally make the drug.

 

[FAST6191]

Are they not allowed to legally make it now? As far as I could tell it was a trademark thing and an arsehole business practice wound into the deal. Much like any pharmacist can probably compound acetylsalicylic acid, they just might not be able to call it aspirin in many countries. Here though nobody really cared about it and were content to allow the one company to make it, until the naming rights got sold, prices got hiked and we have this thread.

 

[RevPokemon]

Are they not allowed to legally make it now? As far as I could tell it was a trademark thing and an arsehole business practice wound into the deal. Much like any pharmacist can probably compound acetylsalicylic acid, they just might not be able to call it aspirin in many countries.

It really depends upon the laws in the area as to the legal status of generics since the can widely vary as to what is considered a "generic" and what is not.

 

[FAST6191]

Hmm, looks like I have more reading to do on IP law. That said this thing is 62 years old (or was at the time of the OP, older now) so if there is any way they can still have any non trademark claims over it then the IP law situation in the US is even more hosed than I thought it was (and between the DNA patents, software patents, much of the DMCA, a patent office that has never seemed to have heard of non patent prior art and obviousness, the whole Eastern District of Texas thing and everything that has resulted from that and more I did not hold it in high esteem to begin with), that said the whole states vs Federal thing which led to Eastern District of Texas being a thing probably says much there.

 

[JoostinOnline]

Are they not allowed to legally make it now? As far as I could tell it was a trademark thing and an arsehole business practice wound into the deal. Much like any pharmacist can probably compound acetylsalicylic acid, they just might not be able to call it aspirin in many countries. Here though nobody really cared about it and were content to allow the one company to make it, until the naming rights got sold, prices got hiked and we have this thread.

Considering there are no less than six generics, I'd say they're allowed to make it.

The whole thing was ridiculous from the start. People said it was a cure for AIDS, which it wasn't, and acted like raising the price meant nobody could get the drug. It's easily obtainable as a generic. I imagine most people were already on that. I have some medical issues, and I switch to generics when they are available because they're cheaper, and in the case of my epilepsy medicine, more effective.

 

[Lacius]

Considering there are no less than six generics, I'd say they're allowed to make it.

The whole thing was ridiculous from the start. People said it was a cure for AIDS, which it wasn't, and acted like raising the price meant nobody could get the drug. It's easily obtainable as a generic. I imagine most people were already on that. I have some medical issues, and I switch to generics when they are available because they're cheaper, and in the case of my epilepsy medicine, more effective.

What you linked to is just the list of generic antimalarial drugs, regardless of how they work or how comparable they are to Daraprim. In reality, Daraprim has no generic alternative. Your weird defense of an arbitrary price-increase for a drug that people need in order to live was what was ridiculous from the start.

 

[Daggot]

The guy who jacked up the AIDS pill lost his job as a CEO so he now does livestreams to pass the time. FYI the next pill he's trying to do this to is that revolutionary new asthma medication coming out on the market. He does this for fun. This and threatening to sue kids so hard their parents are gonna lose the house on legal fees alone live on stream.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

The guy who jacked up the AIDS pill lost his job as a CEO so he now does livestreams to pass the time. FYI the next pill he's trying to do this to is that revolutionary new asthma medication coming out on the market. He does this for fun. This and threatening to sue kids so hard their parents are gonna lose the house on legal fees alone live on stream.

Isn't capitalism great

 

[Daggot]

Isn't capitalism great

It actually is but this guy is just sadistic.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

It actually is but this guy is just sadistic.

I mean yeah

But the fact that he owns a company means that not only does he have the right to do that, he also gets tax breaks! Yay! c:

 

[Daggot]

I mean yeah

But the fact that he owns a company means that not only does he have the right to do that, he also gets tax breaks! Yay! c:

Actually he pissed one too many people off and was booted from that position and was then subsequently arrested and charged for securities fraud only to get out on $5 million bail.

He didn't make it out unscathed at all.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Actually he pissed one too many people off and was booted from that position and was then subsequently arrested and charged for securities fraud only to get out on $5 million bail.

He didn't make it out unscathed at all.

Oh I know, but he's clearly planning on pulling the same shenanigans again as you pointed out, just because he can. He's rich enough to be a dick and not think about the potentially fatal consequences of his actions

Edit: So to clarify, yes, while you're right, he legally didn't make it out unscathed, he most certainly did not by any means pay for the consequences of his actions

 

[JoostinOnline]

What you linked to is just the list of generic antimalarial drugs, regardless of how they work or how comparable they are to Daraprim. In reality, Daraprim has no generic alternative. Your weird defense of an arbitrary price-increase for a drug that people need in order to live was what was ridiculous from the start.

They're generics to Daraprim. And Daraprim wasn't needed to live. The whole "it's a cure for AIDS" was a lie that anyone with even a moderate amount of intelligence should have been able to figure out.

Nobody had any medical problems when the price was raised.

 

[RevPokemon]

Oh I know, but he's clearly planning on pulling the same shenanigans again as you pointed out, just because he can. He's rich enough to be a dick and not think about the potentially fatal consequences of his actions

Out of context this sounds like a prime example of Donald Trump.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Out of context this sounds like a prime example of Donald Trump.

I mean in any context it's a perfect example of Donald Trump, let's be honest

 

[JoostinOnline]

He's rich enough to be a dick and not think about the potentially fatal consequences of his actions

Except none of the consequences were fatal, potentially or otherwise.

 

[Lacius]

They're generics to Daraprim.

No, in the United States, there are not. You'd be stupid to have toxoplasmosis and not use Daraprim. It was also the lack of a generic alternative that caused the drug to be bought and the price to be raised in the first place.
https://www.drugs.com/availability/generic-daraprim.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrimethamine

And Daraprim wasn't needed to live.

Daraprim is a lifesaving drug that's on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.

The whole "it's a cure for AIDS" was a lie that anyone with even a moderate amount of intelligence should have been able to figure out.

You're the first person I've heard quote any sort of claim like that. Nobody's arguing the drug cures HIV/AIDS.

Nobody had any medical problems when the price was raised.

The problem is predominantly financial.

 

[JoostinOnline]

No, in the United States, there are not. You'd be stupid to have toxoplasmosis and not use Daraprim. It was also the lack of a generic alternative that caused the drug to be bought and the price to be raised in the first place.
https://www.drugs.com/availability/generic-daraprim.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrimethamine


Daraprim is a lifesaving drug that's on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.


You're the first person I've heard quote any sort of claim like that. Nobody's arguing the drug cures HIV/AIDS.


The problem is predominantly financial.

This all happened a year ago. It was all over facebook.