Pharma-Bro Martin Shkreli Is Playing A Role

I find it most interesting that the thing that took down "the most hated man on the Internet" was cheating his hedge fund investors... who ended up making a profit in the end.

The company that first fired him for raising prices on a patented drug kept the price hike after booting Shkreli. Interestingly, this created an environment where another company invested some R&D dollars and created a corollary drug to do the same job. Again, in the end, it seems like Shkreli's actions may have actually helped people.

He seems to be playing the role of a villain, intentionally, even labeling himself as such in tweets. The thing he is most hated for - hiking drug prices - is completely legal, and the fact that he did it in such a high profile manner looks very much like he was really trying to expose the broken legal environment when it comes to Big Pharma. It very much looks like he put on a "Pharma Fat Cat" mask and proceeded to be a huge dickbag in all of the spotlights he could find. He technically defrauded investors to make more money, and that he did - returning profits through his strategy.

The most serious counts he faced involved "intentional harm" to his investors, which the jury acquitted him of... but this just goes to show, the legal system is set up to protect the richest among us. Raising prices on life-saving drugs: legal... lying to actual fat cats: 20 years in prison.

Think about it. I contend that Shkreli is pulling a David Gale-esque long con on Big Pharma.

Shrkeli isnt conning big pharma- he's part of the whole thing.

The reason why this all happened is because the FDA made it so expensive for competitors of this old drug to enter the market it ended up becoming a monopoly.

So the reason why drugs are so expensive in the US is because of government enforced monopolies.

PoS said:

Shrkeli isnt conning big pharma- he's part of the whole thing.

The reason why this all happened is because the FDA made it so expensive for competitors of this old drug to enter the market it ended up becoming a monopoly.

So the reason why drugs are so expensive in the US is because of government enforced monopolies.

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This.

Kick the FDA to the curb and let the Judicial system do its thing if there is harm.

PoS said:

Shrkeli isnt conning big pharma- he's part of the whole thing.

The reason why this all happened is because the FDA made it so expensive for competitors of this old drug to enter the market it ended up becoming a monopoly.

So the reason why drugs are so expensive in the US is because of government enforced monopolies.

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Right. And now everyone knows it. That's kind of my point.

The system is setup to protect the kind of behavior Shkreli blatantly engaged in - so blatantly, in fact, that his actions look like he was trying to force change from the outside. It almost seems as if he was daring people to write their representatives and try to affect change.

And again, think of what actually took him down - he lied to hedge fund investors, but still ended up returning them vast profits. The major count he faced was "intentional harm" to those investors through his deceptive practices, even though he caused no harm.

Gonzo Rodeo said:

Right. And now everyone knows it. That's kind of my point.

The system is setup to protect the kind of behavior Shkreli blatantly engaged in - so blatantly, in fact, that his actions look like he was trying to force change from the outside. It almost seems as if he was daring people to write their representatives and try to affect change.

And again, think of what actually took him down - he lied to hedge fund investors, but still ended up returning them vast profits. The major count he faced was "intentional harm" to those investors through his deceptive practices, even though he caused no harm.

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He wasnt trying to force change- Shrkeli just wanted to make money, he just happened to be more obvious about it. Youre making him out like some sort of Robin Hood when he clearly isnt.

Gonzo Rodeo said:

I find it most interesting that the thing that took down "the most hated man on the Internet" was cheating his hedge fund investors... who ended up making a profit in the end.

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They made a "profit" because he illegally embezzled money from another investment.

The company that first fired him for raising prices on a patented drug kept the price hike after booting Shkreli.

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Shkreli was fired from Retrophin in 2014 mostly for the embezzlement which landed him in jail. He should have been fired for being a sociopath and unconscionably jacking up the price of a life-saving drug. No one should be too surprised that someone who screwed sick people also turned out to have other character flaws.

Interestingly, this created an environment where another company invested some R&D dollars and created a corollary drug to do the same job. Again, in the end, it seems like Shkreli's actions may have actually helped people.

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No, it didn't. It's downright absurd to cast it in that light.

Thiola cost $1.50 per pill, and nothing about it changed, except the CEO of the company that manufactured it. It was already a generic, but no one else was making it. Shkreli jacked the price up to $30 per pill, which screwed the patients and insurers -- as they need 10 to 15 pills per day. Although they didn't have a patent, they did have a de facto monopoly on the drug, as no one else was making it. It took months for the competition to offer a replacement, which is $8 per pill. Retrophin won, everyone else lost.

He seems to be playing the role of a villain, intentionally, even labeling himself as such in tweets. The thing he is most hated for - hiking drug prices - is completely legal....

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"Legal" does not necessarily mean "moral."

He was busted for fraud and embezzling. The fact that he could only be arrested for fraud, rather than for abusing a monopoly which directly harmed sick people and insurers, doesn't change how he deserves to be reviled for both sets of actions, and the self-centered attitude which he believed licensed those behaviors.

He technically defrauded investors to make more money, and that he did - returning profits through his strategy.

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You apparently don't understand the case.

His first hedge fund collapsed, because he made a bad bet on the markets. He set up a second hedge fund, which lied to investors about its performance. He claimed he was making double-digit returns, while the fund was losing money. (That's actual fraud, not merely "technical" fraud.) Unsurprisingly, some of his investors sued his fund. During this time, he also started Retrophin. He paid off the hedge fund investors using funds from Retrophin. He also tried to do an end-run around Retrophin's auditors in the process.

He did not make a big gamble with the remaining funds that paid off. He didn't "return profits through his strategy." He fleeced one company to pay off his failures at another company.

As his conviction ought to demonstrate, that is not even remotely legal.

He also showed no respect for anyone, including the rule of law, the courts, or basic decency during the trial. And now, that attitude results in him rotting in one of the worst prisons in the US while he waits for his sentence. While I do not support facilities that abuse prisoners, I can't gather the energy to actually feel any sympathy for him whatsoever.