Pharmaceutical entrepreneur Martin Shkreli, vilified for buying up drug companies and then dramatically boosting the prices of some medications, was arrested Thursday by the FBI on securities fraud charges related to his former hedge fund and a drug company he once ran, according to reports.
Not the lynch mob he deserves, but a good start.
If convicted he'll have to settle for prison healthcare . . . but at least it will be free.
I didn't know that he reneged:
... Faced with a firestorm of protest, he initially said his firm would lower the price. But Turing Pharmaceuticals later backed away from that promise.
I heard a report about how many speculators have done the same thing recently, he's just the most egregious example.
Hi guys. I'm still around. Thought you might appreciate a different perspective.
After one night on the ship, the hub dragged me to the ship's medical center, where I was diagnosed with pneumonia and disembarked via ambulance ... as soon as they figured the bill and charged my card.
How the American Health Care System Can Save Billions
or
Life in a Fellini Film
1) Transportation. Strip ambulances of unneeded options, like upholstery. A basic painter's van will suffice. Hell, there's no need for the IV holder. Simply hire an apprentice to hold the bag in transit. Hunky Italian EMTs compensate for a lot.
2) Emergency Rooms. What money we waste on private cubicles and duplication of equipment. Do triage in the basement. Line up the gurneys, much like rows of incubators, and wheel patients away as needed, returning them to the same slot. Little kids, prisoners, stab victims, psych patients- equality for all.
3) Don't bother with pitchers of water or ice chips that will only go to waste. A bottle of water with meals is plenty. Forget preparing meals on site. Truck in frozen everything, packaged like airline food. No dishes required. Serve morning coffee in disposable soup bowls. Let patients bus their own dishes into the big garbage can in the bathroom.
4) Substitute paper towels for bath linens. Simply toss a pack onto the door hanging down on the broken dispenser. Patients can administer their own sponge baths, and a scalp rub down with two wet paper towels will save millions on waterless shampoo.
5) People hate hospital gowns anyway, so BYO PJs. If the patient begs for a clean gown after 48 hours of profuse sweating, remind her she surely has a shirt and pantalones, and she can wash the gown provided by the ship. SHE can do laundry in the sink.
6) Cut down on niceties like pee cups. Think of the savings realized by peeing directly into test tubes.
7) No need to waste money on so many things- a room phone, Internet, TV remote, and hang the TV so high one needs to stand in a chair to reach the buttons. Don't give the patient the means to adjust the bed. Use 60's model bathroom scales instead of this fancy digital crap.
8) Payroll. Think of the cumulative savings by keeping communication to a minimum. Time is money. Let the patient buzz the desk when the IV bag is empty. Don't ask if anything hurts and, by all means, don't waste time with information, reassurances or comforting words for patients or spouses. When possible, take full advantage of the language barrier.
9) Do nothing for spouses. Don't bring in a cot or even a blanket. Don't help them find food and lodging. Let them wander.
10) Added yesterday
Ditch the fancy waiting rooms with armchairs and designer pillows and kuerig coffee makers. A row of hard chairs in the hallway is perfectly functional.
And what's with one gown for the X-ray and another for the mammogram? Does each patient need a fancy plastic bag to tote her shirt and bra down the hall? Do we really need a plush terry robe?
Given the length and breadth of the investigation, I doubt the crybaby's claim that he was "he was targeted by authorities because of these increases", but so what if he was? He earned it.
Vrede too wrote:Given the length and breadth of the investigation, I doubt the crybaby's claim that he was "he was targeted by authorities because of these increases", but so what if he was? He earned it.
I have no trouble believing the claim; it simply makes too much sense.
He's a self-made millionaire, a hedge fund manager no less, damn proud of having no ethics or morals. Authorities look at him and realize that it's VERY highly likely that he broke a few laws to enrich himself. So they have a look.
But it's more than that. Shkreli was also an attention whore, defending his actions on TV, even calling it "art." There are plenty of other sleazy hedge-bro millionaires who no doubt broke the law, but they usually have the good sense to remain quiet if not anonymous. The authorities won't get the same applause for charging them.
It may have affected enthusiasm and timing but the drug price hike was only announced on September 17 while the alleged misdeeds stretch back to 2009, "In January 2015, the Company received a subpoena relating to a criminal investigation by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York," and it's hard to imagine that a large, complex financial case with multiple defendants can be put together in 3 months.
Not to make light of death or serious injury, but I ask my patients with minor waterfall injuries if they looked on the back of the "Danger, slippery rocks" signs and then tell them they read, "Thanks for your support, _________ Hospital".
That fall was tragic, as most are, but to her credit she wasn't' cavorting along the top saying "watch this, honey." She was apparently what would have seemed to be a safe distance from the falls and then fell in the water. Not that what she did wasn't inherently dangerous, but it wasn't as stupid as many have been.
On Fri. we went past "Do Not Enter" signs and walked on wet rocks. No chance of drowning or going over a waterfall, but could have broken an ankle or wrist. I might have done the same as her, and have definitely done shakier.
... But in the 19 GOP-controlled states that continue to refuse Medicaid expansion, a different choice is being made: to put political preservation and hatred of President Obama above the needs of their citizens. Not surprisingly, these states are among the unhealthiest in the nation, with some of the highest rates of illnesses and deaths from diseases that are often easily preventable.
There might not be a bigger and more shameful political story in America today than this one. And there also might not be a better example of the fundamental divide that separates America’s two political parties.
That’s something worth keeping in mind when you cast your vote next November.
