By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Former pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli proudly continues his tenure as the industry’s greatest pariah. Speaking before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee during a hearing on prescription drug prices, Mr. Shkreli displayed what can only be described as utter contempt for the proceeding and his own hubris.
Mr. Shkreli invoked his Fifth Amendment rights when questioned by the committee, which of course is his right, but throughout the committee’s questioning he demeaned representatives with gestures such as rolling his eyes, playing with a pencil, and giving smirks. It is certain to garner almost equally the infamy of those smirks of Bernie Madoff.
The video below speaks for itself.
At the end of the hearing, Mr. Shkreli tweeted his contempt for the committee in a manner that is only certain to preserve his reputation as an arrogant, self-centered man having only regard for his own playboy image and that his self-importance is above the various people for which his former drug company allegedly sought to provide benefit.
https://twitter.com/MartinShkreli/status/695264859907317761
The pharmaceutical industry itself should be worried by crass demonstrations by CEOs of other companies as it is only certain to invite greater scrutiny and unfavorable legislation enacted by Congress.
By Darren Smith
Source: C-SPAN
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
Here’s the thing, there are a whole bunch of folks out there who are just like this guy.
I enjoy the moments in life when I run into one of them – at a party, on the street, in a parking lot, etc. – and I get to have an exchange with them. I just toy with them and watch their brain churn with “what am I supposed to do now?”
They usually revert to the 5-8 year old that they really are, and it is fun to watch the breakdown.
As far as the system catching him, he has enough money to access a legal team that will wear out the opposition, unless they find a document that he allowed to exist prior to learning what to do from counsel.
As long as he is reading and not thinking, he will always appear like the little boy that he is.
Chris Rock does a great bit on similarities of drug companies and drug dealers. As he wisely points out, “You make your money on the comeback. Drug dealers don’t want their customers in rehab. So, diabetes would have been cured YEARS ago if there wasn’t so much money on the comeback.”
The Tesla smug guy and this smug guy have a lot in common. Maybe this guy was bullied as well. BOO HOO, he needs a support group.
I’ll put this another way as the previous post was removed. Shkreli has one end of his body more perfectly paired with the other, more so than any other example.
Tyger Gilbert
You are exactly right. The problem with too many drugs is that they don’t work very well. Most have side effects the patients find alarming and the doctors tend to ignore. Some actually help people. Fewer still are actually new and not just knockoffs of someone else’s successful drug.
I will say there is some very exciting research going in for the treatment of Type I diabetes and I find that very encouraging. Maybe a few cancer drugs here and there, but that’s hard to say.
“Ask your doctor.” How many times do you hear that phrase on television each hour? Maybe do not ask a doctor for anything. Stop drugging yourself for all sorts of things that are illusory. Stop smoking tobacco. Stop smoking pot. Stop stirring the pot. The pot called the kettle black. Give your pills back. Get a refund.
Martin is pure American capitalism. Take no prisoners and kill if necessary. After all, he cares not for those taking the drug, he cares only for the stockholder and his own insatiable need for greed.
And let’s not be too sensitive about the plight of the pharma industry, since they don’t seem to concerned about their human guinea pigs:
WASHINGTON – Global health care giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and its subsidiaries will pay more than $2.2 billion to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from allegations relating to the prescription drugs Risperdal, Invega and Natrecor, including promotion for uses not approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and payment of kickbacks to physicians and to the nation’s largest long-term care pharmacy provider. The global resolution is one of the largest health care fraud settlements in U.S. history, including criminal fines and forfeiture totaling $485 million and civil settlements with the federal government and states totaling $1.72 billion.
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/johnson-johnson-pay-more-22-billion-resolve-criminal-and-civil-investigations
Disturbingly no one goes to jail. The corporate executives that turn a blind eye or encourage harmful practices are given large bonuses for their crimes. Martin fits right in with this crowd….