In the acclaimed Broadway musical, Chicago, it was the "Cell Block Tango" that yielded the memorable line, "He had it coming." It now fittingly applies to disgraced former pharmaceutical executive, Martin Shkreli. The "Pharma Bro" (as Shkreli was notoriously dubbed) fraudster will be sitting in a cellblock for the next seven years, and most certainly he had it coming!
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| Photo Source: Daily Squat |
On Friday, March 9th, U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto handed Shkreli a seven-year prison term for securities fraud, as well as ordered him to forfeit assets and pay fines. It is unlikely anyone in the HIV/AIDS advocacy community shed any tears about this news, though Shkreli's sentence reportedly brought him to tears (boo, hoo, hoo).
The discussion over drug pricing is nothing new to the HIV/AIDS community. In fact, it is a healthy discussion and one that needs to be had. But what Shkreli pulled several years ago...purchasing the rights to a popular HIV drug and then jacking-up the price more than 5000%...was unconscionable. Whereas Shkreli's sentence to do hard time had nothing to do with his actions on the drug Daraprim (pyrimethamine), it was nonetheless celebrated by our community. In fact, there was even quite a bit of humor at his expense — evidenced by the headline, "Prison commissary increases lube price by 5000% ahead of Martin Shkreli’s arrival."
According to someone who closely followed the case, "...critically, during Judge Matsumoto’s sentencing rationale, she specifically referenced receipt of correspondence from organizations working with HIV/AIDS patients as balancing off letters written in support of Shkreli." The observation was in reference to a community-led effort by Housing Works to send a strong message to Judge Matsumoto that Shkreli should forfeit his remaining shares in Vyera Pharmaceuticals (formerly Turing Pharmaceuticals), which owns the rights to Daraprim.
The community letter argued that allowing Shkreli to maintain ownership of his shares "will have a devastating impact on innocent people — including current Vyera employees, current Vyera shareholders and countless waiting for Vyera's anticipated treatments for certain orphan and rare diseases." Read the letter signed by 22 organizations, including the ADAP Advocacy Association.
Shkreli will undoubtedly appeal, but the HIV/AIDS community sent a message that such behavior moving forward will not go unnoticed, nor will it be tolerated! With respect to the Shkreli, additional advocacy on the issue is underway.
For now, Pharma Bro can be left to do the Cell Block Tango.
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| Photo Source: Chicago |
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