Company Buys Commonly-Used Drug, Jacks the Price Up 5,000%, and Are Top-Tier Douchebags
Capitalism. It's the mantra of America. I don't hate people trying to make an honest buck, or even an honest billion.
And then there's Turing Pharmaceuticals.
With much stink being made about the rising price of medical care, you'd think that companies wouldn't raise the price of a commonly-used drug to outrageous extremes. But Turing Pharmaceuticals has zero f@cks to give about your silly ethics and morals.
Turing Pharma recently purchased exclusive rights to Daraprim, a life-saving drug that fights toxoplasmosis, a very common food-borne disease. Daraprim is most-commonly used by patients with weakened immune systems because of AIDS, cancer, or pregnancy.
Pre-Turing, the pills were $13.50 each. Still pretty expensive if you have to take them long-term. After Turing purchased exclusive rights to the drug, they jacked the price up. Doubling the price is outrageous, but Turing jacked the price up 5,000%. That's five thousand percent. The pill went from $13.50 each, to $750 each. That's $750 per pill.
How common is toxoplasmosis? Over 60 million Americans have it. That's nearly 1/5th of the entire U.S. population. That means BIG FAT MONEY for the douchebags at Turing Pharma. And the majority of Americans who have the parasite are - of course - poor.
American capitalism is one thing, but American greed is anything but American.
Or it least should be.