As of March 26, we're $27,100 in the red for the quarter. Donate here to support this vital work
Subscribe here and join over 13,000 subscribers to our free weekly newsletter

Daraprim 'profiteering' controversy lifts lid on soaring cost of prescription drugs
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers)


The Guardian (One of the UK's leading newspapers), September 27, 2015
Posted: October 4th, 2015
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/us-money-blog/2015/sep/27...

Until this week most of us had never heard of Daraprim, a drug that fights toxoplasmosis. But after the decision of the drugs new owner, Turing Pharmaceuticals, to boost its cost per pill from $13.50 to a whopping $750, were all unlikely to forget its name or the name of Turings owner, 32-year-old Martin Shkreli. The outrage over the astronomical hike in a life-saving drug has opened the doors to a ... debate about the soaring costs of prescription medications in the United States. Daraprim ... has been around since the 1940s. Logic suggests that drugs that have been around for a while should decline in price. It turns out that isnt the case. The profit-minded individual or company snaps up the patents, suddenly hikes the drugs price and puts consumers from insurance companies to individuals in a position of either paying what is demanded or going without. Late this summer, Rodelis Therapeutics boosted the cost of 30 tablets of cycloserine, a tuberculosis drug, from $500 to $10,800. Early in the year, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc boosted the prices of two heart drugs, Nitropress and Isuprel, by 525% and 212% on the same day that they acquired them. Our duty is to shareholders and to maximize the value of Valeants products, a company spokeswoman told the Wall Street Journal at the time.

Note: For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing news articles about big pharma profiteering from reliable major media sources.


Latest News


Key News Articles from Years Past