I think Marty Shkrel got a fair sentence for what he did. I don't think he can use the disturbed childhood excuse as mitigating.
I know the prosecutors wanted 15. How about a compromise: 10 years? He'll get a pardon from Trump in his second term.
3
Does anyone else remember a bunch of extremely rich members of congress being "outraged" that another extremely rich person had used the system of laws they created, to do exactly what they were created for? Which, of course, was to allow someone to become extremely rich off others peoples misery. My guess is that the majority of their "outrage" was really because they weren't getting a slice of the profits. Now that I think of it, many of them probably held shares in one of Shkreli's hedge funds at some point.
Notice how, despite all the "outrage", he actually did nothing illegal in that case, and no laws were ever changed.
The message from congress and this conviction are clear: Always steal from the poor, the sick, and the powerless - because we made it legal. And never, ever, steal from people who can afford really good consul.
Got it?
5
Let us see: he'll leave his federal minimum security prison with a scratch golf handicap, a Wharton MBA, tennis forearm, and a nice tan.
1
This is such a miscarriage of justice.
What is really Shkreli's crime? Who are the victims?
They all seem to have doubled, some tripled their money. No one lost a penny in the process.
Further more he created half a billion $ drug company and hundreds of jobs in the process.
This guy's life is being destroyed for some accounting technicalities, nothing more.
If we apply this standard to Wall Street, we should start constructing jails tomorrow and shut everything down. Think of all the bankers that destroyed the lives of hundred thousand American families through their liar loans and mortgages? HSBC bank was caught red handed laundering billions of dollars for drug cartels and terrorists and no one went to jail. Or the honorable John Corzine who vaporized more than 1 billion of customer money and walked away scot-free.
Since when do we destroy people’s lives because we don’t find them likable?
This shameful sentence tells more about our justice system than Shkreli.
4
He is to Big Pharm what Trump is to the nation, an idiot savant, a loud mouth bully, smart in something that does not apply to the enterprise he chose to run. the end result.
So he had a tough childhood. That may impress the world of shrinks who earn their money on testimony, but many people had a worse childhood than his and grew up decent.
They should both be in jail.
3
Evidently Drug companies inherently are breeding grounds for unprincipaled unethical, greedy people. Never saw a nastier government offic....... Oh no he's not a member of Trumps group, he's a drug company owner. So easy to confuse the two groups. What with all the administration using tax dollars to jet around, go on vacation, order extravagant furnishings. And the hypocrisy of it all is one is the head of HUD, one is in charge of VA, and another is an investment banker' a man estimated at over 300 mil, who is in charge of Treasury, which while living on our dime has gotten richer. These are the years of the rich and greedy! Their mottos, "No such thing as rich enough!"
1
I hope now that Shkreli is about to disappear out of public sign in jail that people do not forget the 5,000% price increase in Daraprim price episode. People seem to have forgotten that another drug, Emflaza, has had its price raised by 6,500%, and those people are still in business. PTC Therapeutics has taken what used to be a $1,000 per year drug and raised it to $65,000 per year, and is celebrating its profits. And yet no one cares about Daraprim anymore, no one care about Emflaza
4
Maybe he'll find or develop a soul in prison. Let's hope.
I think we need a new word. Schadenfreude isn't quite powerful enough here. "Shkrelifreude" ? That way, at least Pharma Bro will have something to claim credit for after he completes his prison term and forfeits all his money.
See ya later!
Oh come on, folks. The glee here is obscene.
Shkreli is the embodiment of an American ideal, widely celebrated in others who are more discreet and cautious, including your heroes on the center-left.
Ever wonder why Obama was offered a deal worth $65 million, for memoirs no one will read?
Justice for a callous healthcare exec who always seemed to relish squeezing the have nots.
1
It's hard to muster any sympathy for Mr Shkreli. His rank behavior and abusive approach to just about anyone and everything virtually guaranteed a smackdown. So he had a less than perfect upbringing, but so too have many others who overcame the negative impact of a soured & abusive upbringing - and many became better human-beings for it. If you don't like the rules of the game - don't play. I won't be buying a copy of his Wu Tang Clan album if it comes onto the market because I doubt I could listen to it without visualizing this fraudster's image.
I hope he's made to serve the entire sentence, although I doubt it. The judge should also have barred him from working in hedge funds and pharmaceuticals in the future. He could try ... real estate!
5
When I see Shkreli, I am reminded of Quint's soliloquy from "Jaws":
"Y’know, the thing about a shark, he’s got lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll’s eyes. When he comes after ya, he doesn’t seem to be livin’ until he bites ya..."
3
“He wants everyone to believe that he is a genius, a whiz kid,...He can’t just be an average person who fails, like the rest of us.” rather like our president.
3
I am sorry he received such a minor sentence for his fraudulent crime.
4
Hope they keep him off social media. Like Trump, it's his source of oxygen.
Likely he'll be out on parole in a few years with 2/3 of his fortune in tact (or multiplied), and he'll revert to form.
1
What is the difference between this scoundrel and the one in the Oval Office?
2
I can only imagine the sort of revenge on humanity he'll spend the next 7 years cooking up.
1
He has real skin in the game now...
It says a lot about our system, especially the the influence of Big Pharma, that the odd Mr. Shkreli was able to do the things he did.
We'd all benefit from reading Overdo$ed America, or Deadly Medicines and Organized Crime in order to understand the pernicious and greedy influence of the pharmaceutical industry in our lives.
High cost may be the least of it. Drugs are pushed on us on TV, in the press, by drug reps in doctors' offices with their "free" samples and deceptive touting of benefits and minimizing of adverse effects.
Drug "research" is paid for mostly by drug companies, which makes the results five times more likely to be favorable to the product. Drug companies pay the F.D.A. to have their products tested for approval. Drugs get approved for surrogate markers (ie lowers LDL, but doesn't lower heart attack or stroke or increase longevity).
The trail of death and damage is a long sad one: HRT, thalidomide, statins, Vioxx, Celebrex--"blockbuster drugs", hundreds of thousands of deaths. No one is required to report adverse effects after drugs hit the market. The Supreme Court in 2011 and 2013 made it impossible to sue generic drug companies for not being current on warning labels nor for faulty drug design.
Martin is one end product of our broken system, as are those who couldn't afford their medications. Other victims are those who've been harmed by drugs, and since all drugs have side effects and 60% of Americans are on prescription drugs...statinvictims.com
3
"She said he seemed “genuinely remorseful,” but he “repeatedly minimized” his conduct, including in statements and emails after his conviction."
Displays of remorse should not enter into sentencing. It rewards acting skills and punishes a lack of same.
If only this was part of a pattern: corrupt, greedy, heartless executives, and their boards, regularly assigned to prison for extended periods.
Too bad its not a punishment that would really hurt: in the pocketbook.
I'm hungry for a parade of well-respected executives rehearsing the extenuating circumstances of their lives in ways that would be meaningless in the adjudication of far lesser crimes' on the way long prison sentences enriched with meaningfully large financial penalties.
We haven't been getting enough of that.
Interesting that he receives no pushback for raising a life-saving drug's price 5,000 percent, but gets convicted because he lied to investors.
High road.
3
“I wanted to grow my stature and my reputation. I am here because of my gross, stupid and negligent mistakes I made.” Here's the crux of the problem: They weren't "mistakes". His conduct was intentional, and even worse, intentionally harmful to others.
2
". His fraud convictions were unrelated to that episode, stemming instead from his involvement with Retrophin..."
Let's be honest: his arrest, indictment and conviction had everything to do with his involvement with Retrophin, The comments by readers here go on and on about his abuse of the free market for pricing drugs. THAT is the real reason, if not the legal reason. Meanwhile our broken healthcare system continues to make people sick.
Shkreli goes to the joint for 7 years. So what. The rip off of the American people by drug companies continues unabated. Must be because they bought the congress. That's how democracy works (or doesn't) in America.
One down, and hopefully many more to come.
1
Withhold your judgements. In the downward arc from Reagan to GWB to Trump, I'd say we're looking at the 2040 Republican Presidential nominee.
1
People are such a mix of good and bad. No?
I am sorry to hear of Mr. Shkreli's physical abuse at the hands of his parents. I did not realize he'd suffered that way. On the other hand. . .
. . .I remember--we ALL remember--that scornful smile as he brushed aside all those Congressmen and their questions. Languidly, contemptuously taking the Fifth Amendment. Later, dismissing his interrogators as a parcel of clowns and dimwits.
Nothing else--and I do mean NOTHING ELSE!--could POSSIBLY have created in me a spark of sympathy for our Congress.
But that did.
And I"m afraid the lines of Thomas Gray run through my head when Mr. Shkreli (and people like him) get their comeuppance. The poet is addressing Adversity. As if Adversity were a real person:
"Caught in thine adamantine chain,
The proud are taught to taste of pain
And purple tyrants vainly groan
With pangs unfelt before--unpitied and alone."
Maybe, should the President run into some serious rough water, those lines will AGAIN run through my head.
Or maybe. . .
. .. if I MYSELF run into serious rough water.
There might be a little Martin Shkreli in all of us.
Including me.
It's impossible to know for sure, but I really think that if he hadn't done the whole unconscionable (but legal) Daraprim price-hike, that his sentence here would have been much, much less considering that all of the defrauded investors made a "healthy profit." So, in essence, the sentence was really for the Daraprim price-hike, imo.
fwiw, I thus think the prison sentence was too harsh. BUT, I loved that the fine was huge. And actually, wish it were much greater. These wall street guys should be left with, say $500K (not $20M) when they get out. They fear living a middle class life almost as much as prison, so that would be a just punishment. And we could use the extra $20M for drugs for indigent AIDS patients or plenty of other better uses than a yacht for Skreli when he gets out.
Now, they need to go after all the other business criminals who did as bad or worse, but Im definitely not holding my breath!
I assume he will get half time, and barring incident be out in 3.5 years?
Why do journalists never, ever clarify this in articles involving sentencing?
If we treated all corporate criminals like this, we’d have fewer of them.
1
Karma, Martin, karma. Karma is a ....
A man who would find it morally palatable to inflate by 5,000 % the price of a life saving anti-allergic reaction medication that was being sold for $ 5 by the company he used junk stock to take over....is unfit to live in any society. He is a monster and deserves to be locked away for life without parole.. Why? Because countless number of ill people were essentially condemned to death by his decision to put his personal enrichment over a life saving medication he had acquired by fraud -
2
Boohoo. He had a bad childhood. Everyone had a bad childhood. The difference is he committed fraud and has only showed remorse in that he wasnt smart enough to away with it. Grow up bro.
1
He not even the worst criminal on Wall Street, he just the one with the biggest mouth.
1
Shkreli raised the price of a medication from $13 to $750 per dose! A medication given to get rid of infection. A medication for perhaps those with HIV to ward off pneumonia.
Seven years is never long enough. Send him away and throw away the key. Let him make his name for himself behind bars. He’s a cruel creature.
2
I am boggled by the fine feelings and sympathy for white, white-collar criminals just because they nasty parents. Where is that same sympathy for the 2.3 million black men and women in the prison system? No doubt they have sad stories to tell, too.
1
“Judge Matsumoto also authorized the government to seize Mr. Shkreli’s assets, including a one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album.”
The Wu prevails.
What happens after Shkreli's 7 years (or less) in Club Fed prison? He apparently still has much ill-gotten wealth squirreled away. And it seems clear that he is a deeply disordered, malignant, anti-social person, as are far too many people (overwhelmingly men) who are "leaders" of corporations and governments. He will still be fairly young in 7 years and capable of much more damage in the world. We really must do something about the insidious, parasitic sociopaths, from Wall Street to the White House, who are trying to rule (and ruin) the world.
2
If you have a Wu-Tang album, a Picasso painting and a sorrowful family story, you can get out of jail in America. Just like playing Monopoly, you've got a Get Out of Jail Free card. Advance to Go, take a ride on the Reading Railroad, and get rich quick, by playing the game right. The current president's former failed business school showed their students how to do this. In the land of opportunity, e pluribus unum!
Shkreli is a symptom of a problem. Those who concentrate on the symptom do not want to see the problem because it is a very basic problem and they do not know what to do about it.
5
Many comments focus on the 5000% increase as a justification for his prison sentence. The problem with this logic is that the voting public decides what is lawful or not. If the majority truly felt this was unacceptable, then laws would be written to prevent price gouging in the pharmaceutical industry. We only have ourselves to blame.
6
Just in case you hadn't noticed, a huge number of us are voting, but given gerrymandered districts, we're just spitting into the wind.
1
Right cause we saw how well that worked with any attempt at any gun controls. However - you are correct that this administration is not our problem - that they could get voted in is.
Shkreli's crime was lack of discretion. His price hikes were extreme enough to make people question the system and perhaps become angry enough to change it. He had to be punished for something so that more discrete and gradual price hikes could continue. So he was, and they are.
People do not like to question free enterprise in general. Now the moral order of the universe has been restored and we can go back to putting up with more gradually rising prices for our drugs and our health care, and the pharmaceutical industry can go back to milking the unique necessity of its products to further increase its share of GNP.
Making drugs is a business. Basic research with no immediate payoff is passed along to the government, to be paid for by taxpayers. What might make money is passed along to private enterprise, which makes money from it.
If making drugs is a business, prices should be controlled by competition, but patent laws are manipulated to keep competition at bay for a few more years. Much drug research and testing is to develop and test new versions of drugs that are different enough from existing product to extend patent protection; in terms of advancing the art of healing, the money is a waste. The behavior of drug prices shows that competition is not working. Occasional shortages of basic but low-margin items show that no one wants to waste resources producing dull, sleepy items that have no possibility of producing bonanza profits.
5
One problem with a free market is that when what is profitable and what is socially beneficial are not the same, actors will do what is profitable.
One problem with a free market in pharmaceuticals is that private actors take advantage of and build on a foundation of a taxpayer-funded basic research in order to create private profit from their applied research.
Some hospitals and doctors are starting their own drug companies to ensure a stable supply of the kind of standard drugs that have been around a long time, have gone off-patent, and are no longer as highly profitable as new, blockbuster drugs. The problem with this approach is that doctors and hospitals are just as subject to greed as are the big pharma companies. It matters little to a patient precisely who hikes the price of his/her drugs several-fold.
Since we the taxpayers funded much of the basic research that helped create now off-patent drugs, it's time for the federal government to go into direct competition with the private sector, and start doing what some doctors and hospitals are trying, to make older, off-patent drugs for as little as possible and to ensure a steady supply. This simply extends one role of the federal government, to engage in necessary activities that the private sector doesn't find profitable, to activities which we the people do not want the private sector to find profitable.
7
Confused - why would raising the cost of any product, especially a drug, by 5,000% cause ire in anyone? This is how wealth is generated in this country, with the exception of inheritance. Usury is not only legal it is lauded and praised. This is the basis of NYC, many four elected officials, and the most 'successful entrepreneurs' in the country.
It is too bad his other crime is not also punishable by law.
1
Pharma Bro kharma.
15
Shkreli's pathetic Twinkie defense is sickening. Did Brafman actually think this would hold water? Who cares if Shkreli came from an abusive home? Is this supposed to give him license to defraud others? Who cares if he could calculate square roots at an early age? Is this supposed to give him license to derogate everyone else? He is the most unsympathetic defendant I can remember. I feel sorry for his cellmate who'll have to spend so much time with this lowlife.
14
He won’t do well in prison...life has a way of catching up with all of us eventually.
Good!
6
So, he'll do his time and come back out to a fortune. My bet is that in seven and a half years time we will be reading about Shkreli in the newspaper again, and not for some good reason like he is donating part of his fortune to help kids suffering from domestic abuse or working to bring down the prices of needed medicines for poor people. I'm sorry he had a tough childhood. I'm more sorry for the people who were price gouged and had their health hung in the balance.
"I was never motivated by money"?!?!? He wasn't motivated by anything good, and I doubt that will change. Prove me wrong, Pharma Bro.
18
Pharma karma.
7
Pharma Boy Karma.
3
This couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
6
He'll be back , a leopard never changes its spots . He's a damaged creepy little guy who sought to get back at the world for sad a upbringing by making a lot of money by hurting others . His sneering veneer has not earned him sympathy or love . He is to be pitied , but he still has to pay his dues.
3
He is a repellent, amoral, arrogant creature. Lizard-like, I would say, except that's unfair to lizards. And yet we put people in jail for decades for drugs. Seven years is not even near enough.
17
Could not have happened to a nicer guy.
2
This is a grown man and not a child. Why are White criminals no matter their age given the poor misunderstood label? Black children, men,and women are demonized without trial or charges, and called no angels no matter the circumstances. Stop calling convicted criminals misunderstood or children. Children know better and behave better than this CONVICTED CRIMINAL. Lose the poor misunderstood label unless you're willing to apply it equally for all. Ted Bundy was never called no angel and neither was Dylan Roof.
11
I don't think anyone here is going for the "misunderstood" label. And were he black, his lawyers would be doing exactly the same.
Stop making it about race.
It gives one hope when the bad guys go to jail. Now, when will we see the very, very bad guy, who is currently our President, get what he deserves? Impeachment? Jail Time? Both?!
7
Why should Shkreli be imprisoned for Trumpian behavior?
4
If he showed some humility
he could have gotten a shorter term or
less painful than prison.
This is a lesson for young arrogant
millennial who unfortunately
only a prison sentence can humble him.
1
this makes my weekend.
3
Sounds like Shrkelli still has $20 MILLION in assets, so what's a few years in jail to him? He won't know the fear of being broke and unemployable, as an ex-con and a felon. It's just one more chapter of his picaresque life. For the most part, he got away with it.
7
The sentence is too short.
9
Best news I've heard all week. Let's hope that his length of stay in prison is increased by...oh, I don't know...5000%?
13
It is refreshing to see that sociopaths do not always get rewarded for their exploitative and antisocial behavior, and in fact get punished and go to jail.
3
Unfortunate that he won't be sharing a cell block with the many unindicted felons behind the 2007/8 crash that cost the nation billions.
5
Far too short a sentence. This guy is an unrepentant arrogant menace to society and deserves to be put away for a very long time. I wonder how many deaths resulted from his actions raising live-saving drug prices beyond would a great many people could afford to pay. Could a case not be made that this is effectively murder? Is accessory to murder not a crime?
4
"He cried as he gave his statement, dabbing at his eyes with a tissue." Aw.
10
From his comments, Shkreli seems unrepentant of his 'crimes', hence, deserves to be in prison to introspect...and to avoid ongoing cheating on unsuspecting victims.
1
I hope he actually serves his time, and receives no medical care during his incarceration.
4
I suppose there is something satisfying about wiping that omnipresent smirk off of Martin Shkreli's face.
He has a Donald-like ego and, in light of his pharmaceutical price raises, cares for humanity about as much as the GOP's choice as well.
2
The only way to chasten the likes of Shkreli is to seize his entire fortune and distribute it to those in need, then prevent him from trading in securities in the future. He will likely spend his time in prison devising new schemes for defrauding the public. What a terrible waste of a brilliant mind.
1
Good to see that investors wealthy enough to play in the hedge fund arena got their day in court and win against a real creep.
To the victims of his immoral pharmaceutical schemes, trickle-down justice will have to suffice.
1
Sure, I'm very happy he's going to the Big House. But, he probably literally killed or at least injured/worsened many Patients, i.e. Sick people. He's actually going to Jail for Fraud, stealing from mostly Rich people.
Think about THAT.
4
Raising drug prices dramatically, for no reason other than greed, is not a crime. Maybe it should be, but it's not. Fraudulently obtaining investment funds is, regardless of the victim's status.
So when will the Sackler family and its enablers be getting free room and board at Club Fed for playing a central role in the aggressive marketing and distribution of opioid drugs that have enslaved and killed tens of thousands of Americans every year?
5
General prison population, if you don’t mind, for this exemplar of maximizing shareholder value. Just wall street doing what they do.
1
I wonder if this wiped the smirk off his face. Let's see how much time he actually does and where he does it. The sentence was too light.
3
He's lucky he had a good lawyer and a sympathetic judge, he deserved 15 years of hard labor.
He'll get out in three years sitting on a bankroll of twenty million. The money is gaining interest while he's in prison too. Unfortunately, I don't think we've heard the last of this unpleasant fellow. The good news is three years is a long time to waste. I hope suffers every minute like an eternity. Shkreli deserves the worst of what prison has to offer.
1
I know Mr. Shkreli wasn't convicted for being a heartless, money-grabbing creep but it should be a warning for those from Big Pharma who still are.
3
The only good thing that can be said about the self described 'fool' and pathetic “Pharma-Bro”, Martin Shkreli , is that although he and his industry are of no use whatsoever to patients and families needing reasonably priced medications, he’s at least a very good example & huge warning sign of the real dangers of all execs.& others involved in the U.S. unregulated and profiteering BigPharma industry. Patients beware!
1
He's still not sorry - no sympathy for this pharma-bro without a conscience. He'll still have plenty of money when he's out unfortunately and will be back to offending humanity before you know it.
Can't wait to see what we get to lock him up for next time.
1
absolutely horrendous sentencing, unfettered excersise of power by the judge no justification
Is this the new trend in our judicial system??
A convicted crook goes all the way back to his childhood to show how his parents were really at fault.
It's good that this judge did no accept these nonsensical declarations.
An adult should be judged on his actions as an adult.
Anything else is a slap to the face of his victims.
I must add that his 15 minute of fame in social media should be a cautionary tale to the millenials.
2
What he did wasn't much different from what Mylan is doing with their "EpiPen", or what most generic pharmaceutical drug maker does. Which is buy orphan drugs, that have been around for decades, and ramp up the price 5,000%. His biggest crime wasn't that, it was using Retrophin and that companies stock to repay investors who were dumb enough to give his hedge fund piles of money, in hopes of reaping gains that no investment makes long term.
Whats worse is those investors, didn't vet him, they didn't take the time to go to the SECs EDGAR website and verify what he was saying about his hedge fund and how much was under management was true. Instead, like those who got bilked by Madoff, their own greed and avarice drove them to believe that an 18% PLUS was the normal return. In some cases Martin, told people in writing, that his hedge fund gained 40% a year.
I don't feel bad for those investors, their greed not only drove them to invest in Shkreli's hedge fund they became are guilty of fraud the moment they were taking Retrophin stock under the guise they were paid consultants, so they knew what Martin was doing in terms of his repaying their investment monies with Retrophin shares was illegal. Because that's the deal they struck with Shkreli and company
Which is where the corporate lawyer threw away his career, because he forged documents, that furthered the scheme perpetrated by Martin Shkreli, and company, used to repay those investors. Shkreli is where he belongs.
2
That seems about right. He needed a wakeup call, and this is it. He'll go through some dark nights of the soul -- if he has one left -- and he could do a lot of good in prison.
1
Elizabeth Warren should be smiling.
When he smugly told her he had the right to increase the drugs his firm made by 700%--it was all perfectly legal, she had to remind him, "But you forget where you are. We are the ones who make the laws."
6
Really sorry for his hard knocks, but the prisons are full of people who got bad breaks and no sympathy from the criminal justice system. Being able to afford a good lawyer and having stashed-away lots of money will, I'm sure get this guy off eventually. Having a big bank roll helps to wear down the system and somehow gets judges to empathize with other rich, privileged, white people like themselves, which allows them to cut Shkreli some slack.
1
There is much about Mr Shkreli that I find distasteful, disagreeable and loathsome. However, as a matter of Justice, my view is that the sentence is too harsh. I think he deserves two to three years, but not seven. From my long experience with criminal justice, I have found that any sentence more than 5 years is non-productive and often destructive to the individual. Mr Shkreli without question need mental health services, and a lot of work. A long prison sentence will be adverse.
1
Mr. Shkreli is only the tip of a huge pharma iceberg. Long respected companies are making essential drugs unaffordable to US consumers following the unethical rule that the more profit the better.
4
As both a committed Left anticapitalist and a prison abolitionist, I am equally appalled by his outlandish corrupt corporatism and also not satisfied that prison is helpful. Ultimately the problem is systemic, and cases like this only give a morally and ethically reprehensible system, namely vulture capitalism, a smug assurance. I would like to see real change where no one is subjected to the kind of 'American Dream' that created Martin.
3
This story has given me such schadenfreudenistic glee; it's just so delicious!
3
It's unfortunate that he can't be jailed for price gouging patients, keeping them from life saving drugs so that he and investors could line their pockets.
Here's hoping one or more of his fellow inmates were in need of the drugs he put out of reach for so many.
1
Does anyone believe for a minute that if it were a black kid standing before that judge, she would have given a nanosecond of thought to the rigors of his upbringing?
His supporters argued that he merely became consumed with his own internet fame, as though that was a meaningful mitigating factor. It's a bit like arguing that a crack dealer simply got carried away with all the money, as though that too should mitigate his crime.
The judge noted that he seemed "genuinely remorseful." Did it occur to Her Honor that the only time he has ever shown a scintilla of remorse was at his sentencing hearing . . . before sentencing was passed. Where do we get judges like this? Do they live in the real world?
1
Finally! Some good news and justice for a change.
Martin Shkreli symbolizes so much of what is rotten in U.S. business and executives. If only his imprisonment signified an attendant downfall of all these greedy beings and this trend, today would be even more momentous. But settle for Shkreli's seven years to start. He will know the sting of punishment outside his control and I'm hoping he can't pass off his smarmy facade as "good behavior." I want to see Shkreli's smirking comport slapped off his face for his exorbitant price increase of a crucial drug -- which he did because he could and because some patients simply must pay for a can't-live-without medicine. I know his sentence isn't about that, but it'll do. While most of his ilk still range freely, this one's gonna suffer; it's a great release of pent-up anger over an era of rapacious business people freely robbing their employees, their customers, the government and entire industries. They, too, do it because they can. And who's going to stop them?
This question of comeuppance is most crucial now because the granddaddy of this mighty river sits in our Oval Office. He's proof positive, to date, that you can skate. Fortunately, Trump's got the granddaddy of prosecutors on his tail. I believe it's the likely consequences for his wicked business practices that worry him most. I'm optimistic; I know that when Mueller hooks him, we won't have to settle for Shkreli. He's an appetizer while we await the Trump entree. I feel like a kid counting days 'til Christmas.
2
The fraud was bad enough. The 5,000 percent increase in Daraprim, a drug required by people with AIDS if they come down with certain illnesses, was worse than fraud. It was uncalled for, cruel, inhumane, and evil. The fact is that Martin Shkreli is not the only one who has charged outrageous sums of money for drugs or other medical care. He just did it in such a way that it was obvious.
I think that 7 years in prison might make up for what he did to severely ill people. But that's one drug and one person. What about the rest of them? And what will stop Shrkeli from trying the same thing once he's released? Will he learn from what he did? Or will he become a motivational speaker and continue to make easy money at the expense of others? In other words, will he have to do an honest day's work like the rest of us who don't have the feeling that we are geniuses of any sort and who wind up paying for people like him?
5
Pretty sure that this is not the last we have heard from this guy. The only question is whether we will see him sentence to prison again or whether this is the last time.
4
I would be willing to wager that more of us than not, have experienced some form of manipulation, harassment, perhaps even abuse in our lives. I know I have.
I also know that there comes a time in our lives when no matter what we have experienced...we must choose the trajectory of the rest of our lives. And if we are unable to do that, it is our responsibility as adults to seek professional help.
Instead, our society continues to excuse and condone and enable and allow, to turn a blind eye...to the truths and realities of our own lives and what we can clearly see in others' lives.
If we can refocus our energy and attention - learn to separate each day from the media, marketing, money, advertising, and technology inundating us each day - we can then focus on cultivating genuine empathy, healing and understanding for ourselves and for our "neighbors."
The strongest communities are those composed of healthy, open, learning, growing, interdependent individuals...willing to contribute the best of themselves to the community, but also able to sustain their individual integrity and well-being.
Contrary to appearances, Mr. Shkreli was a follower, not a leader. I hope he gets the help he needs now; we're all worthy of a second chance.
9
Pharmaceutical Company Mylan CEO Heather Bresch, (daughter of Joe Manchin) should be the next person sent to prison. She raised the price of Epi Pens 500%. Shouldn't that be a crime when people can't afford to save their lives from a simple medicine that has been around for years?
79
Like Bernie Madoff, who had the nerve to steal from the rich,(remember the rules, like he other crooks, you she'll from the poor), he did something that riled the other powerful white collar crooks, so he's being mad an example, but really? How is he any worse than the crooks who we elect, and after they're in, give us lip service, then make laws that allow others to rip us off legally? How is he any worse than the bankers who crashed the economy and didn't go to jail? He's nowhere near as bad, given the open check with no interest that Well Street currently enjoys, or should we call it public aid for the meds l mega rich. He's small potatoes next to those guys, and don't get me started on the insurance executives, and the list goes on and on. Please don't waste our time with the small time crooks. wanna see the crooks on Wall Street get their due, I would like to see the biggest drug dealers, the executives of pharmaceutical companies in shackles, and let's not forget the patent owners of opioids. Hey, private prisons are filled with people accused of having a small amount of marijuana on them, yet the real crooks walk free.
18
And sadly the Pharmaceutical industry really is still disgusting. Would have been worth all this if the Republicans had reined them all in for the same crimes.
6
Are you kidding?! It was Congress that mandated list price for Medicare drug purchases.
1
Extreme arrogance, hubris, lack of empathy or compassion, and general weirdness--all buttressed. as usual, by powerful feelings of inadequacy and emotional immaturity (viz. the White House)--seem to have driven him more than the usual white-collar criminal's simple (is it ever simple?) greed. Maybe this will be one dude who emerges from prison a better person.
2
Not sure what the fuss is about.
He's pretty much interchangeable with anyone in big business. They are a societal disease.
11
Definition : Remorse : deep regret or guilt for a wrong committed.
His replies never reach this stamdard.
Fifteen years not seven!
9
Was Bernie Madoff his mentor?
7
Certainly, Madoff may as well have been Shkreli's mentor, but there are have been so many unscrupulous scoundrels these days in the fields of American finance, banking and investment that he certainly had his pick of teachers. It is literally an American embarrassment of riches -- leading to failures.
2
America! .... Accountability and Justice: END Medical Abuse and Foster Care Corruption. Vacate the Belmont Report....and RETURN our children from their enslavement FOSTER CARE. ... For the BETTERMENT of humanity.
What a fine handsome young boy. What a hideous snake behind the mask. See you in seven.
4
I just hope there's no such thing as getting out early on good behavior for what Shkreli has done. Shkreli deserved the 15 -- as a minimum. I'm happy he's getting the seven but very wary of a judicial system that seems to reward fraudulence among people with money. Their "white collar" crimes are treated more as a little misbehavior rather than a nationwide network of criminal conspiracy.
2
The Epipen thieves are next.
30
You mean Senator Joe Manchin's daughter?
19
I can't wait for the day when a somewhat more aged Shkreli develops a chronic medical condition. (And just maybe his imprisonment will help this along.) It happens to almost everyone. Then whatever prescription medicine he needs should be hijacked by a younger scoundrel who also has greed dripping from his deeds. And he'll get the same treatment he has imposed on thousands of Americans. A sneering smirk and a shrug.
2
Yes, he's a big time creep and deserves at least what he got. But I'd still rather know him than Trump.
3
Instead of buying a $2 million album he should have sought psychological counseling.
5
Counseling for Shkreli would have been worthless. Besides, as long as he was on top, I don't think he would have been ready. But I think the seven years will provide him with all the time he needs to gain personal insight and emotional enrichment that he so truly deserves: Every night after lights out will be an opportunity for him as he stares wide-eyed at the ceiling while contemplating who will assault him next and how to block the screams of his deranged fellow inmates.
2
I am interested in knowing how such a young guy (at least he looks young) become head of a pharmaceutical "giant". I hoping that one of the criteria is not having empathy. I understand business is business, but ...................
2
“I was never motivated by money,” said Mr. Shkreli
What a joke. Of course he was motivated by money and all of the ridiculous things he could buy with that money. For example, Shkreli purchased the rare, Wu-Tang album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. It was released as a single, one-of-a-kind copy in 2015 and became the most expensive album ever purchased. Shkreli, then nicknamed "Pharma Bro," bought the album with a $2 million bid. Wu-Tang reportedly donated much of the money to charity when they learned that Shkreli, who had become infamous for drastically hiking the price of the drug Daraprim, had bought their album.
The feds also seized $5 Million in cash, a Picasso and assorted other paraphernalia. Shkreli is only remorseful because he is staring down the barrel of a 7 year prison sentence. He had no remorse for the AIDS patients when he jacked up the price for an inexpensive medication 5,000%. I hope he enjoys prison. It couldn't have happened to a more deserving guy. He should have gotten the full 15.
24
Well, Mr. Shkreli better learn the lyrics to "What You In Fo" to assist with his transition to the big house.
5
You notice that the pharma company did not back down the price of the drug Daraprim.
The board of that company should join him. For all seven years.
The drug can be had for a dollar a dose, coumpounded in the USA compared to the company's $750 a tablet list price.. Less than a dime out of India.
20
Shkreli does seem to be quite the unlikable, troubled fellow. But remember that Shrkeli hardly has a monopoly on being unlikable and despicable. Let's not forget the powers that be (politicians, businessmen, etc.) who have managed to manipulate our laws and our economy such that Americans haven't gotten a real raise in 40 years. Having done this and having "liberated" women (by forcing them to work), they have not only killed what used to be the middle class, they have exploded the family structure that used to exist and created the mental illness that is now causing children to be gunned down in classrooms, and daily pushes the tremendous mental depression that is growing throughout the country. Really, what business isn't disgusting like pharmaceuticals? Health Insurance industry that regularly decides people should get fixed on opioids and refused treatment they need to live? Banking industry that bankrupted minority homeowners and feeds people sky-high interest credit cards after insuring no raise for Americans for 40 years? Real Estate industry that throws people out on the street in winter? Business is business, Mr. Scrooge said, and that hasn't changed since he ate his last bowl of porridge. You can safely assume all businesses are pretty disgusting, and if you're going to get rich it almost REQUIRES a lack of morals and a lot of ambition, not intelligence (see Donald Trump).
6
These rich white-boys don't do time in a real prison: imagine the Hilton with barbed-wire and conjugal visits.
4
This is such a joke. ALL pharmaceuticals are astronomically priced. I just returned from Europe where I stocked up on my meds that were readily available in the local pharmacy without a prescription at pennies on the dollar compared to the USA. I was able to freely buy things for a few Euro that would cost hundreds of dollars in the US and my "top notch" healthcare plan won't even pay for the generic version. This guy is just the "Martha Stewart" of that world. He is just the whipping boy tip of the iceberg.
9
Rough abusive childhood.......major inferiority complex.........equals Mr. Shrikelli. Not a good enough excuse to get away with hurting other's but i understand that neurosis and think his parents, and their parent's ought to go to jail as well. His feeling of fear and smallness turned into bravado to hide the inferiority, and now we have the last laugh. I hope he will reform and become the good human he is capable of. Like all of us, he just wanted positive attention and love as a child. When we don't get it, as many many do not, defense mechanisms have to arise to protect the organism.
This looks like punishment, but it also might just be the reprieve and lesson he needed to learn to become an ordinary human. We will see.
3
Don't forget, what he did, jacking up the price of a life saving medication WAS PERFECTLY LEGAL.
Drug companies do this every day. He was charged and convicted for securities fraud.
8
Long overdue that a white collar criminal actually serves time behind bars for defrauding people. Instead, jails are packed nationwide with petty theft and larceny convictions. Here in Virginia there was a pyrrhic victory just to get the larceny threshold raised to a reasonable amount.
The disgraceful part of all this was his smug attitude during his testimony in Capitol Hill. I don't think anyone will now mistake this guy for a 'genius'.
2
Glad he'll finally be in prison; OTOH seven years is what's known as throwing the book at a rich white man.
Will we be seeing a "Free Shkreli" campaign?
2
Pharma bro, seven years??...Bro!
Now, I wonder how much for Kushner and Trump when theirs is all over.
8
Oddly, it might have been his brazen social media post requesting hair from Hillary Clinton that lead to his longer sentence--the judge notes as much.
5
We are fooling ourselves if we think our world isn't filled with Martin Shkreli's in high places. Greed is universal and deeply ingrained in our culture. The main difference between Martin Shkreli and most of the corporate world was that he didn't understand the concept of public relations. If you are going to gouge, don't make it obvious. If you are going to rip people off, act nice about it. Talk about how many jobs you are creating. Donate to some tax-deductible charities. Maybe talk about how you are going to Make America Great Again.
Shkreli is really the dumbest of the bunch. If Shkreli were a bit smarter, he could be in the White House instead of prison.
39
Who's fooled? We have a White House and congress filled with them. Gleefully put there is some cases.
4
There are many, many more crooks and fraudsters just like Shkreli operating on Wall Street right now, but they are bright enough to keep their heads low and their mouths shut. The only reason Shkreli will be doing time is because he wasn't sharp enough to keep a low profile.
When will some of the other con men and bandits on Wall Street be on their way to the big house? Not anytime soon, apparently.
15
There are a lot of personality similarities between Shkreli and Trump, ie., selfish egotism, disregard for anyone other than self and societal norms. Let's bet there are similar illegalities there.
19
"As the proceedings wrapped up, for instance, he wrote on Facebook that if he were to be acquitted, he would be able to have sex with a female journalist he often posted about online."
Well, I doubt that's going to happen, but perhaps while he's in prison he'll be able to have sex with one of the people with AIDS whose anti-pneumonia drug he raised to unaffordable levels. It is truly ridiculous that people like this seem "genuinely remorseful" only when they are looking at the personal consequences of their actions and that people are willing to let themselves be duped into believing that his "remorse" is really for his actions, not the fact that he's now having to pay the piper. He didn't seem so remorseful when called before Congress to answer questions about his price gouging actions, punctuating his "testimony" by sneering at the Congressional Panel as if no one could touch him.
Have fun in jail. I'm sure you'll have many opportunities to use your "bright, nerdy" attributes on your fellow inmates.
8
7 years in Club Fed? Sounds like a vacation!
5
I can't stand this guy's smarmy face, but we need to consider how he ended where he did. Child abuse, if it happened, should have been curtailed. Mental health facilities that identify lack of empathy as a problem need funding. The notion that 'greed is good', that the investor is always of primary importance, are concepts that need to be reversed. As a society, we should consider ourselves condemned.
5
What a joy to read that this particular vampire has been put behind bars. Let's hope that he will be joined, in the not too distant future, by many others of his ilk. Perhaps, it could be a new Trump Tower.
14
Too bad US bankers don't receive this type of justice when they defraud the public. Do they have friends in high places that Mr. Shkreli doesn't?
16
Oh yes!...it is too bad that many of todays Bankers don't get 15 years when they defraud the public...the use money to pay for their crimes that is not there's.
2
I wonder how many died because they could not afford this life-saving drug? Does he care? Sorry about his abusive childhood but at least he had one. There are children who didn't get that chance because of him.
Too bad his father wasn't a senator like Heather Besch of Mylar - he might have escaped jail time. She is the one who raised the price of the EpiPen. Probably not the best thing for a lot of other kids.
The Pharmaceutical industry really is disgusting.
229
Shkreli may or may not care, but we dont. Otherwise we would not put up with the behavior of Big Pharma in spite of their being more discreet than Shkreli. Big Pharma may be disgusting, but it is free enterprise, and the free enterprise solution to their behavior is to buy their stock (because they know how to make money).
1
Sure, the pharmaceutical industry is disgusting, but then, how many industries are NOT these days?
How about the health insurance companies that charge people many hundreds of dollars a month in premiums for scanty policies that will deny them a lot of the care they require?
How about bankers like Wells Fargo, which shoveled millions of customers into fraudulent bank accounts and credit cards without their approval or knowledge?
How about investment-fund operators like Bernie Madoff, who stiffed clients of tens of BILLIONS of dollars when his pyramid scheme collapsed, robbing many elderly couples of their complete retirement funds and forcing some aged people to forego retirement?
How about real estate developers like Donald J. Trump, who stiffed construction workers after overworking them; partnered in business with organized crime and other shady figures; sold condos to investors by fabricating the number of other sold units, which weren't; and refused blacks occupancy in what were supposed to be affordable rental apartments?
What about our very own president? Shkreli's currently a fill-in for businesses and executives who are far worse, although I'll take Shkreli at present as a sign of prosecutorial attention into so much commerce that's criminal.
3
Shkreli's increases in drug prices were not prosecuted because price gouging in New York is not a crime. I would guess that a lot of New Yorkers don't think that's right and the would want the legislature to change the law.
12
Glad something finally wiped that smirk off his face.
14
YES!...
Shkreli is exactly the type of small time and pathetically stupid crook that federal prosecutors target. We can only hope that this is just a beginning.
9
Teach inmates what?
7
How to cheat and lie to get more money?
1
I’m hesitant to celebrate too quickly. People like this seem to always find a way out given his vast resources.
4
That's it? Seven Years? Net worth over twenty million?
That's like seven million a year. (I'm sure it will be invested well.)
And who will be paying for
his health care, food, shelter, warmth, clothing, etc
while he's in the pen? Us. Can we not over charge him for time
in prison as he over charged others for medicine?
Justice in this country is a joke.
8
Shkreli is not remorseful and was lucky to get only 7 years in prison. He could care less about the cost of drugs for the average person and will do the same when he gets out of prison. The crying and using a Kleenex to dab is eyes was simply an act.
7
There's more to this Shkreli story. When he gets out of prison, he still will be a multi-millionaire. How did he amass such a large amount of money. I'd like to read more about Mr. Shkreli. He clearly did somethings right as well as somethings wrong.
2
Funny how Brafman tried to get Shkreli’s sentence reduced by referencing his childhood abuse when his own client abused those needing his drugs. Although the childhood trauma experienced by Shrkrelui is reprehensible, it cannot be used as a pass for disregarding social norms as an adult.
9
As good as the news of Mr. Shkreli's 7-year sentence is, the far more reprehensible fact remains that for which he is not convicted: ruthlessly putting countless human lives in jeopardy by increasing the price of a cheap and much needed beneficial drug to the tune of 5000%, apparently because the "free market" demands it. Not even Soviet Communism under Stalin has been that cold blooded and cynical, and cold blooded and cynical is was. The kind of bankruptocleptocasinocapiralism as embodied in the young man sentenced to prison today is, in its ultimate result, the very same as the system called Communism: Organized Irresponsibility. The big honchos perpetuating and reaping the benefits from this rabid disease, and not merely Mr. Shkreli, need to be apprehended, tried, found guilty, and severely punished and excised from human society as the vile cancer they are, for life. What we witness in this case is one of the many outward expressions of the moral depravity which has befallen western capitalist societies, which are consumed by the same odious rot within which did in Communism. The complete collapse is only a matter of time, as the beginnings of this process become more visible by the day across these and other shores.
7
In terms of lots of money at a young age, he's what our society describes as highly successful. He would still be a hero to many, were it not for being so obnoxious.
40
Reminds me of the quote, " The mill of the gods grinds exceedingly slow but exceedingly small." Not small enough, perhaps, but still a good result.
5
Research shows three things 1) Shkreli gave the RX free to people unable to buy it
2) his investors were made whole when he converted the stocks
3) Heather Bresch at Mylan (daughter of Joe Manchin, D/Sen WVa) made a salary of $7 Million by buying up rights to epi-pens and hiking the price from $15 to $600 per. She's not in jail. Not tried. Because she didn't pull a stock fiddle (even though, remember, Martin's investors were made whole), appeared on her desk showing a lot of leg in a shiny gold dress, and has better emotional/social skills than this kid.
6
At the the end of the day, this is a very sad story.
Mr Shkreli was just 17 years old when got started, and he squandered it all away because “He wanted to grow his stature and his reputation. And because of gross, stupid and negligent mistakes he made.”
Let’s all hope that when he comes out of jail, he will much more mature and wiser.
45
He wasn't even willing to fake remorse until he started to realize that he might not get away with it, without pretending remorse.
8
He won't be...and will not change. People like him never do.
2
reply to JuQuin, Pennsylvania
"Let’s all hope that when he comes out of jail, he will much more mature and wiser."
I would not hold my breath waiting for that outcome. Sad that he was exposed to so much abuse in his early years, but that part of his history lets us know that his resultant lack of empathy, and his narcissism will stand in the way of any true rehabilitation.
As for the judge's admonition that he should continue teaching while in prison? I hope the prison staff will pay close attention to his performance and outcomes (but doubt if they will).
3
So now this self-professed modern robber baron tells us he was never motivated by money (this coming from the same guy who laid out $2 million for a single issue Wu-Tang Clan album). And yet, Shkreli greedily upped the price of Daraprim, a drug that treats potentially deadly parasitic infections, from $13.50 a pill to $750 a pill.
I wonder how many people have suffered or died because of his greed? Well, he has 7 years in jail to think about it. That’s if he has a shred of humanity left in his cancerous soul.
22
This should finally wipe the smirk off his face. Let's hope it's a humbling enough experience to keep it off.
16
This article was so satisfying, I read it twice.
42
I can hardly wait until Trump's sentencing. He and Shkreli are "birds of a feather." On the other hand, saying that may be a disservice to Shkreli. Trump is unquestionably worse.
15
Yes, Trump is worse.
3
Trump is worse because of the office he holds and the power that comes with it. Imagine President Shkreli.
One thing Trump and Shkreli have in common is that for them there is no sin, no wrongdoing, no selfishness - there are only mistakes. Shkreli had to admit he made mistakes - otherwise why did he end up in court?
Trump has not admitted even that much. Asked if he ever repented - he was playing Christian at the time - he said no, because he never made mistakes. I only wish Anderson Cooper had known enough of Scripture to ask him about 1 John 1:8: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
3
“I wanted to grow my stature and my reputation. I am here because of my gross, stupid and negligent mistakes I made.” I noticed the one attribute he left out was GREED. If he failed to realize that greed is what truly motivates a price increase to that degree, then he is merely mouthing the words he thinks the judge wants to hear.
While I totally loathe this individual's decision to increase the price of Daraprim by 5,000 percent and thereby preventing so many families and individuals from being to afford this life saving drug, I don't think prison time is the answer. I would have preferred to see a fine that was triple the profit he made off of Daraprim as well as other financial sanctions. The penalty should hit him where it hurts him the most (his pocketbook). Prison is too good for him.
8
@Marge Keller: But how do you think he'd make enough money to pay a fine as large as you suggest? He'd do it by upping the price of some OTHER drug.
I think prison is exactly what he needs, b/c these clever, smug weasels need to be dealt with in such a way they can't sweet-talk, charm, connive or buy their way out of. Shkreli's words & actions in the months leading to his sentencing all indicated that he was quite sure that he was, essentially, never going to get prison as a sentence, and that he'd never really have to "pay" any price (in prison time, money, or anything else) for what he'd done.
I don't envy Shkreli on any level - which seems to be what he wanted people to do: envy him. He is absent a sense of decency that is fundamental to being human. He cultivated that smiling, sneering, smirking persona that is so offensive - and he reveled in his offensiveness as if it were something good.
The only thing that worries me is that the judge said he should keep teaching inmates in prison - and I wonder what he's teaching them? A higher-level con artist game than they already had? More effective ways to cheat? It's not clear to me what Shkreli has to "teach" anyone, other than being a prime example of someone who should not be admired or emulated.
3
Good point L from NYC. I just assume that all of the profits this "clever, smug weasel" (great description) made thus far would go towards a huge fine. I also assumed that hurting him financially would have a lasting impact, but then, as you suggested, so would prison. Whatever sentence and punishment that is passed down to him via the judge, it will never compare to the pain and suffering endured by the many who could no longer afford his incredibly insane price increases.
2
... maybe do time in a hospital and help treat AIDS patients ...
to see some of the consequences of his "negligent mistakes"?
[or would that endanger the patients even further?]
1
Some people take an abusive childhood and use it to energize their compassion and desire to heal the world. Others use it as an excuse to commit fraud on investors and behave like a sociopath.
24
Three for good behavior no doubt. He got too light of a sentence.
4
Had I known parental abuse was mitigating factor I would've been robbing banks. Instead I found my way to old age without committing crimes or ripping people off.
15 years would be a more appropriate sentence for Shkreli.
263
No kidding Chamber. My brother suffered extreme parental abuse when he was young. He enlisted in the army when he was 18, was a combat medic in Nam, and ended up being a pediatric cast specialist in a university hospital after his military service.
I am so sick and tired of reading about adults who continue to use the abuse they suffered as a child as an excuse for their bad behavior as an adult. It's as if there is justification for all the bad choices one makes in life simply because he or she was abused as a child. Whatever happened to accountability and consequences for one's actions?
7
Here's what I want to know: What the heck could Shkreli be teaching in prison?
Could it be: the engineering of pyramid schemes; how to rob Peter to pay yourself; using the Internet to lovingly boost your ego; how to write to women who'll plead for your conjugal rights; inventing empathy to convince judges you're sincere; the Ten Steps to convincing fellow inmates to give you their commissary money without them realizing you never returned with the goods?
1
Karma win's in the end.
5
He was originally sentenced to 45 days in prison, but they raised it by 550%.
32
Someone who has told an "egregious multitude of lies” and has “repeatedly minimized” his own conduct.
Sounds vaguely familiar.
24
Yes, we all remember Bill Clinton quite well, but thanks for the reminder.
He did ONE public service. He was so loathsome and ham-handed that even some Republicans started talking about reining in pharmaceutical prices. But that moment soon passed as it always does--and Shkreli is treated as an aberration instead of typical (in practice if not in personality) of the price gougers of Big Pharma. Medicare for all!
273
You must not have ever had to deal with the people at Medicare.
I go on Medicare in October and am looking forward to it. I have no illusions that it will be perfect. But my scores of friends on Medicare have few complaints--compared to the legions of people I know (including myself) who struggle with private insurance companies both in terms of denial of coverage and expense. Most all of the Western world has some variation of a single-payer system and there is no way they would trade their system for ours.
2
Didn't they already pass a law saying the government can't negotiate with drug companies over Medicare drug prices? Maybe we can get Big Phama behind single payer. Long as they can set the prices as high as they want, where's the worry?
Good
One to go and many to follow.
7
Genuinely remorseful or a good actor? I suspect the latter. The only remorse he had was he got caught. Our current society is breeding sociopaths who don’t care about anyone but themselves.
There is no true shame or remorse about their actions. Just look at the price of insulins, life saving drugs that cost patients over $500 per 100 units for many types of short and long acting insulins. Even the ones that are $250 here are $110 in Canada and $45 in India. Other countries have laws against this. Not us whose Congress is bought and paid.
50
Not long enough. And the fine is not large enough.
17
He's sitting and crying? What about the poor people who had to put out all of that ridiculous amount of money ? Seven years? I would think 25 would be the minimum. I hope he won't be released earlier on good behavior. This man is a parasite who tried to live off people with medical needs. Good behavior indeed.
25
Yay!!! It would be hard to think of a more deserving felon
8
You shed crocodile tears, Mr. Shkreli. Yawn. Contemplate the public's antipathy toward you for the next 7 years while you're in the slammer. Your disdain for your fellow humans is beyond pathetic. Your moral failings are egregious. You get no sympathy from me.
21
His incarceration seems like a big blow to Team Trump as they rebuild their ranks, robbing them of a potential appointee. What with Shrkeli's move to "sharply raise drug prices," tell "an egregious multitude of lies," "repeatedly minimize his conduct," and try to "have sex with a female journalist he met online," not to mention his overall mental instability, he seems, sadly, like a good fit with the culture and competency requirements of the current White House.
12
You can pretty much tell that someone else wrote his "oh, please don't send me to jail" speech that he delivered in court today. He's not the sort who'd EVER genuinely own up to his "gross, stupid and negligent mistakes".
6
Given that there was no financial loss, a seven year sentence, which appears to be near the top of the guidelines, appears unduly harsh and indefensible. As is often the case, sentencing memoranda and associated documents reveal some of the persona behind the defendant. For all of the public bravado over his right to set absurd drug prices and his immature comments during the trial, Shkreli is a brilliant individual who endured a Dickensian childhood and probably adopted the tough exterior as his means of coping with this trauma. He unquestionably made misrepresentations about the investments at issue in this trial and should be punished for such actions. When his investors lost money, however, he made them completely whole by transferring publicly held securities. He deserves credit for such actions, which is not reflected in this sentence. Sentences are supposed to be tailored to the defendant to achieve justice. Say what you will about Shkreli. There is not much justice in this unduly harsh sentence.
7
Sentencing of criminals is based on the crime, not a perception of genius. A brilliant person would not do and say the foolish things he did and said, even after a guilty conviction.
4
@Christopher Rillo: Please don't try to make excuses for this man! He got off easy, considering he could have been sentenced to 15 years.
He alone made decisions and took actions that hurt an enormous number of people. He had no remorse, and his only remorse now is that he's going to prison. There is a lot of justice in this sentence: it will make this man sit still and perhaps think about how he views life and how he has conducted himself so far. If he comes out of prison the same as he went in, that will say a lot about his true character.
PLENTY of people have had Dickensian childhoods and came out of it with MORE empathy & concern for the well-being of others as a result. That Shkreli did not is his choice. He seems mean & utterly insensitive to anyone else. I think he needs serious psychotherapy (and he'd actually have to WANT to change himself for the better).
Shkreli may be "brilliant" (as you claim), but he's certainly not smart.
5
Humans throughout most of our time on Earth survived from the advantages bestowed by caring and sharing for each other. A creature like Martin and his personal need for hoarding would have been tossed out of the tribe, close to a death sentence. We’ve allowed the self interest of one to be celebrated at the expense of all. Martin enjoy your new found tribal setting.
15
One other truly heartbreaking aspect to all of this is how many seriously ill people had to go without a prescribed medication because of this man's greed driven actions? Many people possibly could not have afforded to purchase it at the original price. When Martin Shkreli raised the price of a drug by 5,500% he personally shortened the lives of persons who desperately needed this drug to stay alive. If his childhood was a bad as his defense team has portrayed, why would he impose this devastation on others?
36
A bigger question is why does the US pay these prices for prescription drugs and other countries do not.
Why do we pay twice as much per capita for healthcare as the other industrial countries and we don't have universal coverage.
Worse, we have segments of the US with infant mortality rates worse than Botswana.
26
Always follow the money!!
3
Another case of a "white-collar" criminal adversely affecting untold numbers of the public with the ripple down affect of their fraudulent acts walking away with millions of dollars. I'd do seven years (which he probably will not be locked up for the entirety of it) in a federal pen in return for $20M lifestyle upon my release.
He should have his assets seized (fruit of the poisoned tree) and simply issued a bus ticket and some petty cash when he is eventually released . . . just how the vast majority of "blue-collar" criminals are treated.
8
A more than $7 million fine on an individual worth, according to the story, more than $27 million., Maybe it should have been increased by the same percentage he increased drug prices. He'll probably be in federal prison until 2025 (unless he gets a pardon by you know who). Plenty of time to write his book. Wonder where the proceeds of that will go?
3
I am President and CEO of a small company called Mitergy that has developed a new class of mitochondrial therapeutics to childhood deafness and cerebellar ataxia. Because of this blight of a CEO, we have stayed off the radar and are very concerned how more like him are waiting to flip technology related to healthcare.
This is the sorry state of therapeutic drug development. Either the greed succeeds and we all pay for it or tech sits while one's disease progresses.
13
Does your drug correct the distance problem between nuclear and mitochondrial genomes and electron affinity of the enzyme redox centers within the four complexes of the electron transport chain?
Shkreli seems to be the embodiment of all the worst failings of our society. We glorify financial profit above decency towards others and somehow have normalized a sociopathic approach to living in a society: compassion for those who need medication? Honesty in our business dealings? Respect for public servants? These values get nothing but a sneer from Shkreli and far to many of his fellow acolytes of business schools and the true American religion of money.
Why he was not prosecuted for publicly, physically threatening a major party's Presidential candidate I will never understand. (But of course, Trump did the same.) Now that the sneer is finally off his face, I hope that Shkreli feels sorry for something more than just himself.
23
Mr. Shkreli is emblematic of a society in deep moral decline. The sentence imposed upon him doesn't begin to mirror the damage he has inflicted upon those patients directly affected by his outrageous actions; and we cannot calculate how many other drug prices have been increased by following his example.
The "egregious multitude of lies" referred to by Judge Matsumoto, could and should be applied to our President whose lies, crass and coarse behavior has affected not a subset, but our society as a whole. The conviction of Mr. Shkreli is one step out of the morass, we rely on Mr. Mueller to do the same for Mr. Trump.
58
Well stated!
1
He shows his talent for fraud by getting away with such a short sentence. He won't serve anywhere near the 7 years he has been sentenced and will come out and do more of the same.
12
This is a federal sentence, not a state sentence. There is no parole. Time off for good behavior is capped and one must serve at least 85% of the sentence. In all likelihood he will certainly serve close to 7 years.
4
I only wish Al Mann was here today to witness this event.
3
Shkreli and similar arrogant, greedy people cry only when they are caught by the justice. When the luck was by his side he didn’t shed a single tear for those who were suffering because unable to pay for the medication. I think that eventually he got what he deserved.
30
Shkreli is a truly unlikable individual who doesn't care what people think of him. His abusive and remorseless raising of the price of Daraprim showed his true colors as a selfish and uncaring man. If his kind of personality were punishable by jail time, his sentence would have been far longer.
164
And, he would be serving time with millions of others with like illegalities.
2
One can only imagine how long the sentence would be for our current POTUS if that were true.
2
He's not a man.
1
Hmmmm. He reminds me of a younger version of somebody. I can't quite put my finger on who, though.
104
Someone whose last name starts with a T and ends with a P? Gee, I wonder who that could be?
8
Donald Trump was not physically abused. Wasn't especially bright. Inherited great wealth. Is accused of rape, bragged about it. Did not make sure that investors received their money back (Shkreli did). What's your point?
5
Little shark meet shark tank.
18
Buh-bye, Shkreli! Enjoy your extended "vacation." Maybe you'll grow up; maybe you won't.
He might have gotten some mercy if he'd lowered the price of Daraprim (even though that's an unrelated item to the charges) - how many lives has he damaged by making that one particular drug unaffordable to those who desperately need it?
I see no evidence of good-will or remorse on Shkreli's part, only self-serving crocodile tears and smug stupidity.
11
As part of his 7-year sentence, I'd like him to be confronted by the near and dear of those who died for lack of medication, one family at a time, and justify his actions to THEM.
1
So goes another sociopath, assuming that his remorse before sentencing was genuine, though his previous lack of empathy toward other people puts him in the psychopath group. Prison will off finish this guy. After seven years, he will be a homeless in NY, talking to imaginary people. We can empathize with his childhood abuse, which might be the origin of his present antisocial personality disorder, but many abused children have grown up to be normal people, so ... good bye Martin Shkreli.
7
Some of us see Shkreli not as a genius, but as a buffoon, greedy and lacking common sense.
5
No pity for this man. He got what he deserved.
8
He deserves much worse.
4
Wait, Pharma Bro cried? Was an onion hidden in his tissue? Please place him in an empty two-man cell and hold the other bunk for Jared Kushner. Jared and Pharma Bro can spend their sentences sneering and one-upping each other.
35
Not long enough, in my view. He will still be a millionaire when he gets out. That's just pathetic.
14
The man is a parasite. He should have received a longer sentence for his egregious fraud and disregard for the law AND the people who depend on life-saving drugs. I hope he's put in "gen-pop" at a regular prison and not some "club fed".
30
"Raised in Brooklyn, Mr. Shkreli was physically abused by both of his Albanian immigrant parents and witnessed domestic abuse in his home, according to a submission from a consultant hired by his lawyers that was reviewed by The New York Times" If so, he should have been sentenced to 20 years! By the way, what is the current price of Daraprim?
7
Just desserts for Pharma Bro.
5
He should also get an award for showing everyone how rotten that industry is. Putting him behind bars is fine, but will not wash the guilt from all the other players.
221
Putting him behind bars is just throwing him to the wolves so the other riders of the sleigh can continue on their journey. It is a distraction, an individual non-solution to a systemic problem, the appearance of a solution that enables the problem to continue.
2
I wouldn't be surprised if Trump pardoned Mr. Shkreli within a day or two and offered him a top position in his criminal enterprise (aka "administration"). He'd fit right in.
13
A good replacement for Jared, methinks.
4
My thoughts exactly.
3
Sounds like Shreli could use some serious psychiatry, both talk and pills, while he is in prison. This will diminish the harm he can when he gets out.
4
"Federal District Court Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto cited Mr. Shkreli’s 'egregious multitude of lies.'”
Wait a minute. Shkreli gets 7 years for his multitude of lies and Donald Trump gets to be President for his multitude of lies? Did Shkreli's fraudulence somehow justify jail time while the Trump University fraud didn't even warrant prosecution? That's messed up.
97
Trump University fraud had an impact on wannabe rich people, not actual rich people, so he's good.
3
They should increase his sentence by 5000%
173
Soon to be pardoned and on his way to a bright future in the Trump administration.
7
I really don't care what happens to this low life.
I would like to see legislation preventing drug companies from raising prices as this creep did.
If that means i do not believe in a pure free market for drug prices then I plead guilty.
55
Man is behind the bars but price of Daraprim is still $23500 for a 30 day supply.
38
“There are times I want to punch (my client) in the face because he’s made my job more difficult by some of the things he’s said.”
4
The things that lawyers say, eh?
I mistakenly read the sentence as seventy years when the alert popped up. Wishful thinking on my part, I guess. I hope to never see his sniveling grinned face again in the media. Perhaps now he will have time for some introspection and figure out whether or not he actually has a soul. I hope he spends ever day of those 7 years in jail.
5
This is the feel good story of the day.
7
7 years in prison is nothing. Playing with people's lives by hiking a life saving drug and reveling and taking pleasure at his actions is evil at the highest form. Maybe Trump can give him a pardon.
8
Sometimes there is justice in this world.
6
Excellent: society must be protected.
2
Seven years in federal prison, 1/3 or your saving forfeited, and a federal felony fraud conviction. Now an ex-con and he always will be an ex-con! Its the perfect outcome for all to see.....tell the truth, don't be a smarty pants, work hard and truthful, and don't defraud your investors. Hopefully some will see and learn but probably not!
93
Yes, probably not.
1
Except only giving back 1/3 of the ill gotten gains, from both his hedge fund and his Retrophin fraud. It's ironic, if you deal drugs and get caught, you forfeit all of the the assets you've gained form your illegal drug dealing. It's obvious that you can blatantly rip off consumers, then go one step further and destroy a company, but keep most of your illegal gains. It seems that it's better committing securities fraud, because like Madoff, you get to keep a large part of your illegal money.
4
I have long been disturbed by the different punishments between "white collar" vs "blue collar" crime. Clearly the ones in power prefer to protect their own, writing such light punishments for devastating crimes. Why should this egregious life-threatening crime get only 7 years when a poor kid in Texas can get 10x that for burglary? Unacceptable!
1
Though unrelated to the trial: 5000% increase for meds... should = 5000 years in the clink: crimes against humanity.
12
once again, karma to the rescue.
5
I may be a lesser man for it, but I read this article with unbridled glee. Y'all enjoy your little time out, little man.
Don't cry, little man! You're a tough guy, remember. Feelings are for wimps. See you in a few years. Hope the break will turn you into something resembling a human being. Coz you sure missed the memo the first time.
18
Can he serve in the white house while he is in prison? Seems like a perfect fit.
8
Karma Bro...
Credit to a WAPO commenter who won the internet!!
6
The insincere , greedy and obnoxious brat deserves every year he has to spend in prison. Some one who would endanger the lives of other for money or fame should be locked up for more than seven years. I hope he takes it long and hard in prison!
15
“I wanted to grow my stature and my reputation. I am here because of my gross, stupid and negligent mistakes I made.” In other words, no repentance, just sorry he didn't do a better job of hiding his fraud.
353
...and his lawyer saw that before he read it???
What he did wasn't from gross, stupid, or negligent mistake. A mistake is inadvertent, unplanned. What he did wasn't much different from what Mylan is doing with their "EpiPen", or what most generic pharmaceutical drug maker does. Which is buy orphan drugs, that have been around for decades, and ramp up the price 5,000%. His biggest crime wasn't that, it was using Retrophin and that companies stock to repay investors who were dumb enough to give his hedge fund piles of money.
Whats worse is investors didn't vet him, they didn't take the time to go to the SECs EDGAR website and verify what he was saying was true. Instead, like those who got bilked by Madoff, their own greed and avarice drove them to believe that an 18% PLUS was the normal return. In some cases Martin, told people in writing, that his hedge fund gained 40% a year.
I don't feel bad for those investors, their greed not only drove them to invest in Shkreli's hedge fund. They too are guilty of fraud since they knew, what Martin was doing in terms of his repaying their investment monies with Retrophin shares. Because that's the deal they struck with Shkreli and company
Which is where the corporate lawyer threw away his career, because he forged documents, that furthered the scheme perpetrated by Martin Shkreli, and company, used to repay those investors. Shkreli is a symptom of a bigger problem with corporations victimizing consumers for their own greed as well.
2
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
28
A repulsive sociopath who, like other successful sociopaths, convinced many that he was a charmer. He will be out after serving 85% of his sentence (just shy of 6 years) and will be right back to his career of self-congratulatory fraud, in one arena or other. Maybe he will write a memoir, for those enthralled by the morally corrupt.
67
he'll probably run for president
5
Finally--something to wipe that smirk off his face.
35
Foolish Man/Boy who will not be rehabilitated by prison, but it is where he belongs.
19
American Greed “The Most Hated Man in America?”
Season 12 Episode 151 Aired 02-26-2018
http://www.cnbc.com/live-tv/american-greed/full-episode/%E2%80%9Cthe-mos...
4
Shkreli's lawyer Ben Brafman has said, "I wish I could punch him in the face." You know you have a problem when your own lawyer wants to wack you.
7 years sounds about right.
23
That ought to wipe the smug smile off his face.
6
So here is our "justice" system. Crime pays big time: 27 - 7 = 20 million dollars waiting for him when he gets out in a short while for "good" behavior. Our laws and rules are for the idiots.
15
For federal crimes he can only get a maximum of 15% off his sentence for good behavior while in prison. Even if he serves the last year in a halfway house he will still be serving five years of hard time. Because of the length of his sentence it will probably be in a low security federal prison instead of a federal prison camp - the conditions would be similar to those shown on the TV show Orange is the New Black.
2
I have as much sympathy for Mr. Shkreli as he had for those whose health was severely and negatively impacted when he raised the price of Daraprim by 5000%, making it unaffordable and thus unavailable.
466
If you would've actual research instead of just reading the NYT, you would've known that he gave the drug for free to people who could not afford it and wrote him.
3
It was available. People who asked him received it for no cost.
1
So..people needed to write him? Oh please be my hero and save my life because I can't afford the drug I used to be able to afford. Geez, it's short sighted people like you Peter that pave the way for people like Shkreli get away with loathsome, greedy, despicable acts against others.
8
May I be the first -- and, I'd be willing to bet, not the last -- to say: "Couldn't happen to a nicer guy!"
5
If he were a black guy caught with a SMALL amount of pot in nearly any Red State, it'd be 20 years. And NOT in fancy place with dorms, phones and the internet. Just saying.
214
This guy gives Brooklyn a bad name. He is a despicable individual who is getting what he deseves.
11
Perhaps for others who have committed similar crimes seven years is enough but, in the case of Mr. Shkreli seven years in prison does not seem nearly enough time to rehabilitate his behavior; twenty years seems adequate.
7
For your sake Martin I hope you stay healthy in prison. I doubt if they’ll pay for drugs that have gone up 7000%
7
for the new convict arriving shortly karma indeed opens this door. this young man sure thought he was special. to smirk through his court appearances and show disdain for what or who he considered his lessors this fraudulent human will get the learning he richly deserves.
8
Don't like being unforgiving, but many people survive an unsupportive childhood and do good things in their lives. But everything about Shkreli makes me agree with part of the assertion of his lawyer Brafman who stated, " “There are times I want to punch him in the face..."
15
If Mr. Shkreili's crocodile tears performance and hard luck backstory had the intention of making me feel sympathy for him, he failed.
13
If he stolen that amount of money from a bank, he'd be in prison for 30 years. Why the disparity?
65
Stolen what money? He lied to investors while making them money. He's in jail because he's such a hateable narcissist and horrible person. The facts of the case were incidental.
you are absolutly right. the next question that comes to my mind is since when do we put people in jail because we find them unlikable?
If his noteirity for increasing drug prices was one of the considerations in sentencing Martin Shkreli, then, that is injustice served. We are a free market society and anyone can increase prices however much he/she wants.
However, if the considerations by the judge was purely for other crimes he committed, justice is served. Book him, Danno.
1
He was only nailed for ripping off other wealthy investors—not drug price rigging.
And while his price rigging was shockingly high, cruel and villainous—the total cost of price rigging is astronomical—and protected by a corrupt party in Congress, the GOP, with some corporate Democrats also.
Gough drug patients, use a small percentage of the funds to buy off reform by campaign contributions, gough patients...
20
This is ridiculous, he should have a longer sentence. I'm a Pharmacist and I know how much patients with HIV have to go through to be compliant. I also know that though most are covered by public or private insurance, the costs are exorbitant and not everyone is covered, can you imagine paying 5000 dollars a month for your drugs? imagine if you didn't have insurance, you would go bankrupt or die like one of my patients did. He should be sued for Medicaid and Medicare abuse or better yet he should be given HIV and have to take the meds he was so happy to make a profit from. There is no justice, I would be surprised if he actually served all 7 years.
18
The crime for which he was sentenced has nothing whatsoever to do with his drug price hike, which have been unseemly, but it was not illegal.
I can’t stop thinking in the coming months and years from now there will be White House staffers shedding similar tears and admitting to colossal lapses of judgement to get a more lenient sentence. Power, money, and prestige can be so intoxicating and particularly with people who can’t keep their naked ambition at bay. Why anybody risk going to prison at this level of career achievement? For a few more bucks or for more air time on tv? I don’t get it.
12
"I was never motivated by money." Right.
Here's hoping he serves his time with the general population and not in a country club.
73
White collar criminals should be punished harshly to deter financial crimes that hurt large groups of people. Too many like him get away with fraud, deceit, and stealing.
102
The sentence is fair. I doubt he'll be a better person after he's released though.
6
Yes! He so deserves this. Too bad they couldn't seize all his assets, but the outstanding civil suits may take care of those.
Have the new owners of Retrophin reduced the price of Daraprim (pyrimethamine)? Doesn't really matter. It is not a DEA controlled substance, and the generic is easily made and readily available from Canada, imported into Canada directly from GSK UK, at around $2 a pill.
10
There is some satisfaction in seeing him go to jail even if the conviction is not directly related to his most egregious actions, but his status as THE bad guy in pharmaceuticals masks a much bigger and more pervasive problem. It's not that Shkreli is an outlier--it's that he figured out and embodied the logic of the system too well. That's what we should be concerned with now.
313
Remember Al Capone went to jail not for all the racketeering and murders he committed but for income tax evasion. The reason is irrelevant. He's in prison. That's all the counts.
2
This is an excellent comment. Where do we go from here? Too often, this type of conviction soothes the public and protects the criminals of the big pharma firms. It is a shame that he was not convicted of his actions with pricing pharmaceuticals.
1
Corporations rule. The pharmaceutical industry is in charge. The FDA is their toadie and we are being fleeced.
1
High intelligence we must concede Mr Shkreli. It's not the same as good judgment.
Comments by Judge Matsumoto reported here show her to be humane, considerate, and grounded in principle, at once fair & firm. Would be gratifying to see this woman considered for an expected vacancy in the Supreme Court. Seriously.
8
And yet many pharmaceutical companies continue to gouge the public in the name of shareholder profits. Interesting that he was only prosecuted for defrauding other rich people. Apparently, you can victimize as many poor or middle-class people as you want and never suffer any consequences -- but woe unto you if your victims are wealthy. Another instance of how our justice system only seems to work smoothly if rich and influential folks want to pursue prosecution.
77
Having read Mr. Shkreli's seemingly heartfelt statements of contrition, I feel compelled to suggest we should all be forgiving of his prior transgressions and support him in his time of need. Forgive and forget. He appears to have learned a lesson in humility. To that end, I want to be the first to step forward to offer to buy his $2 million Wu-Tang Clan album in order to settle his debt with the government. Mr. Shkreli, I'll pay you $9.99, the going rate for most iTunes album downloads, and even throw in a "Captain and Tenille's Greatest Hits" cassette I recently found in my car's glove compartment. I hope this is an adequate demonstration of the sympathy one who still has to work for a living feels for you.
22
I was abused as a child too. I witnessed alcoholism and abuse in my home too. That did not make me grow up to use and abuse other people. Quite the opposite actually.
135
Well, said.
7
I would welcome similar sentences for all of the other "fraudsters" in the pharmaceutical industry, combined with court orders that prevents them from returning to the pharmaceutical business when released
9
Of course, Shkreli should be held accountable for his egregious misdeeds, but the description of his childhood gives us material to think his bizarre behavior was a long time developing in ways I doubt modern psychiatry could explain and predict.
52
That is sadly not an unusual childhood. Many grow up in homes of abuse and violence. It does not excuse their choices when they go on to hurt others. We all have things we want - a desire for fame and fortune and prestige doesn't excuse those hurt while gaining it. He's shown absolutely no empathy, and even if this was learned at his parents knees - and fists - and belts - it does not excuse, it does not help those he hurt in any way.
5
Richard, Psychology/psychiatry absolutely can explain the connection between Shkreli's childhood and his adult misconduct; no, it cannot accurately predict future adult behavior in a child.
3
There are a lot of people who have gone through a lot worse than Martin did and didn't grow up to defraud people. You can't allow your past to define you. I feel bad for what he has gone through as a child but he is grown now and he knows right from wrong.
4
Although his conviction and sentencing have nothing to do with his willingness to throw HIV-infected people under the bus in order to satisfy his own greed, it’s hard not to see this as a particularly well-deserved punishment.
And the arc of the moral universe once again bends toward justice.
15
Martin Shkreli made a bunch of investors and hedge fund types really mad, broke the law, and now he's going to jail. Heather Bresch, not so bright daughter of Joe Manchin D-WV, with her bogus MBA, pulled off a pharmaceutical deal similar to one of Marty's. Hiked the price of a life-saving drug used by millions from $12 bucks to $600! Cost the gov't and insurers and patients millions. Maybe some people died because they couldn't get their epi-pens refilled. BUT, Heather has good social skills, posed in a gold dress on top of her desk, didn't dabble in a dodgy fund or promise people (other than her crew at Mylan) that she'd make them rich, and she got to keep her $7 Million annual salary. Mylan paid a little fine. Heather's not in jail.
20
We need to destroy these people with capitalism. We need to reform the laws to allow competition. Right now, it is too expensive to bring a generic drug to market. Much of this lies in regulatory hurdles. Cheaper generic drugs to market will save many lives (and destroy the economics of what predators like Martin and Heather are doing.)
3
Sentence too small for the crime. Hope it's not one of the country club federal prisons.
145
We see many, many scheming MBA's using our health care system to extort money from the society. At least this one will be out of circulation for a while.
230
Among other cultural changes, even supposedly elite Business Schools, stopped teaching Ethics, over twenty five years ago!
6
Good. A while back, I was shocked to hear Shkreli defend himself by saying the following; this is how I remember it, not his actual words.
He said he would be failing his duty to shareholders if he didn't charge as much as the market would bear.
Nice horrible, not? The abrogation of public morality in favor of shareholder profits is one of the great evils of modern times. Companies should put customers and workers first; that's what made America great. Putting shareholders first is making us small, mean, and profitable mostly to the kleptocracy.
285
Right on. This guy is one of the way-too-many embodiments of the Gordon Gekko philosophy: "Greed is good" (from the movie "Wall Street") The idea that profits trump everything is at the heart of the moral decay of our society.
10
He's not going to jail for hiking the price on drugs. He's going to jail for defrauding and lying to investors who thought they were going to become instant millionaires.
We've heard him. Sounds a little Asperger's remote-ish. Definitely brilliant kid.
But if he'd made the shareholders rich, as Joe Manchin of WVA's daughter Heather Bresch did at Mylan at the expense of people needing Epi-Pens, he'd be free.
2
"He said he would be failing his duty to shareholders if he didn't charge as much as the market would bear."
Shkrelli's mistake there was being too honest. That is the mental calculus of most corporate executives. That's what they are hired to do. It's simply not realistic to expect otherwise. People get into business to make money.
That's also why corporations and their officers must be subject to regulations, and must be policed by regulatory agencies. Expecting them to police themselves in the name of public interest is like asking a shark to become a vegetarian.
7