The former Turing CEO defended Mylan Pharmaceuticals, the company that owns EpiPen, in an interview with CBS News. Shkreli claimed Mylan made a measly 8 cents for every dollar they sold and were entitled to reap the benefits when they had a hit product.
Mylan: 9% net margin (live saving drugs)Viacom: 15%, (Reality TV)Altria (Cigarettes): 21% https://t.co/Sde7NwNPijhttps://t.co/GN3gKAWggt
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) August 24, 2016
"Ultimately EpiPen is actually a bargain. It saves you all the cost of going to the emergency room. Just the ambulance ride can be $1,000." Shkreli said. "Like I said, it's $300 a pack. $300. My iPhone is $700."
He offered a solution, however: The government should start its own drug companies for off-patent medicine, pleasing those who believe medicine should be exempt from the laws of capitalism.
Why did the price of the lifesaving EpiPen skyrocket 400%? Because we don't have a single payer health care system to keep greed in check.
— Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) August 21, 2016
There's no reason an EpiPen, which costs Mylan just a few dollars to make, should cost families more than $600. https://t.co/rVWUlMxD0Q
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) August 18, 2016
EpiPen administers a quick dose of epinephrine to counter a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis. Last year, US doctors issued 3.6 million prescriptions for the injector. Mylan's stock fell 5 percent yesterday.
And for all of you idiots thinking Mylan's CEO makes $14,000,000 in cash, her salary is $1,400,000 which is average for that role. Think.
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) August 24, 2016
Shkreli, who is no stranger to price hikes ‒ he was responsible for a 5,000 percent hike in Daraprim, a medicine used in HIV and malaria treatment ‒ dismissed any concerns over an upcoming lawsuit against him. Shkreli is accused of security fraud by "engaging in multiple schemes to ensnare investors through a web of lies and deceit," according to the Department of Justice.
#TheBigPicture: What you should know about the EpiPen price hike - @Thom_Hartmann FULL Ep.: https://t.co/XOOvMFE18s pic.twitter.com/dxIfA1xB6v
— RT America (@RT_America) August 24, 2016
He defended himself against the charges, telling CBS News that people are determined to attack him because he is "very handsome, very wealthy and very funny."
When asked about his public outrage to the killing of Harambe the gorilla, Shkreli said he was very fond of the primates, but admitted that, in his pharmaceutical role, he has "overseen the death of thousands of animals."
Not much different from what has always been happening, but now it is going to be fashionable to mistreat the unhealthy.
The next thing that will come of this is a decrease in the price of and the legalization of euthanasia.