As Expected, Creepy "Pharma Bro" Keeps Drug Price Way Up To Get Super Rich

Martin Shkreli, stil looking smug for making oodles
of money through drug price gouging, says his many critics. 

I know, I know, I've written on and off about Martin Shkreli, the odious money grubbing "Pharma Bro." You might be sick of him, and I kind of am, too. But he just keeps at it.

I just can't resist staring down a villain, is all.

As you might recall, Shkreli and his company Turing Pharmaceuticals, abruptly raised the price of a life saving drug more than fifty fold, raising it to $750 per pill.

The drug helps peope with HIV, organ transplant patients and others with weakened immune systems.  He didn't really care that he was making the life saving drug financially out of reach for many. So what if some people died? Shkreli needs to get richer.

After a major public outcry, Shkreli said he would reduce the price of the drug. But now, not surprisingly we learn that once the media spotlight was off him, he basically said, forget it. I need to get even more super rich off this drug.

At first glance, it looks Shkreli did do something about the price, but not really.

According to the Associated Press, his company will reduce what it charges to hospital for the drug, and most patients' copayments will be capped at around $10 a month.

Sounds terrific, right? No. As the Associated Press put it, "But insurers will be stuck with the bulk of the $750 tab. That drives up future treatment and insurance costs for everyone.

Another drug company, Imprimis Pharmaceuticals, came out with a similar version of the drug that costs just 99 cents a pill, so at least the people that need the medication can get someting at least similar to the original medication.

Still, Impremis has to work to get insurance companies to sign on to using the cheaper pill, but they're making progress. Impremis is also trying to get Congress to change rules to let Medicare, the Defense Department and other federal agencies to cover the less expensive compounded medicines fro outfits like Impremis, says the Associated Press.

Of course, I have no idea why it should be so hard for Congress to change those rules, but then again, we are talking about the U.S. Congress.

 If your insurance doesn't cover the cheaper drug, you're outta luck. You go bankrupt, maybe, on Turing's uber expensive drug Daraprim.

Meanwhile, Turing, under Shkreli's "leadership" is basically trying to say that the sky high price of their drug is a good thing because lower prices don't benefit patients, reports Tech Dirt.

 Yeah, I don't get that either, but here's what Turing's press release says: "Drug pricing is one of the ost complex parts of the health are industry. A drug's list price is not the primary factor in determining patient affordability and access. A reduction in Daraprim's list price would not translate into a benefit for patients."

Um, right. The press release doesn't exactly explain how lower prices would not benefit patients.

The scary thing about all this is that there's very likely other drug manufacturers who are price gouging drugs because they can.    

Yes, I get it that a somewhat higher price needs to be built into medication to fund innovation in future drugs, but it seems as if a lot of this income is going to make billionaires trillionaires or something, rather than advance the cause of science.

The lobbyists have ensured such a thing is legal, and who cares if it's unethical?

The billiionaires have gotta be billionaires, you know.

One More "Pharma Bro" Post As He Gets His Comeuppance, Again!

Maybe Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli won't make as many
ill-gotten dollars off his overpriced meds after a competitor
stepped in Friday with a much less expensive version.  

I know I've paid more attention to creepy "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli than he deserves, but I can't resist completing the arc of this story. At least for now.

To recap:

1. Shkreli, known as "Pharma Bro" because he's a young arrogant boy, essentially, raised the price of a medication many AIDS patients need by 5,000 percent to $750 a pill, just because he wanted to make TONS of money, and who cares if a few people died for want of medication as a result.

2. The Internet lit up with outrage at Pharma Bro, who backtracked and promised to reduce the price of the medication somewhat. So far, he hasn't.

3. Phama Bro gave a campaign donation of $2,700 to Bernie Sanders because he wanted to meet with him. Bernie told him to go pound sand, and gave the donation to a health center that helps AIDS patients.

4. Pharma Bro was then hopping mad at Bernie, the outrage, the world, and told the world via social media that he broke his wrist in anger. That might have been fake.

Now on to the update:

On Friday, the drugmaker Imprimis Pharmaceuticals said it would make its own version of the AIDS medication, called Daraprim, available for just $1 a pill, even less expensive than before Pharma Bro got his hands on it.

So Pharma Bro's business model has been upended, and he won't get as rich as he thought, apparently.

Poor baby.

Still, don't cry too hard for Shkreli the Pharma Bro. The altenative drug from Imprimis is not exactly the same as Daraprim, but it will do. Also, as Forbes notes, Imprimis is a "compounding" pharmaceutical company, which regulators don't trust.

Plus, as Forbes reminds us, there's always these business moves and sleights of hands that return these inexpensive drugs to other pharmaceutical companies, who again boost the prices for fun and profit.

But for now, we can dance on Pharma Bro's slightly smaller pile of ill-gotten money.

Not That You Needed More Evidence, but Phama Bro Shkreli IS A Jerk

Is Pharma Bro playing guitar with a broken wrist? 

You might remember in one of my recent previous posts, or hearing elsewhere about "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli, the guy who raised the cost of a life saving drug exponentially for fun and especially profit.

He also made the news for donating $2,700 to Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign in the hopes of basically buying a meeting with Sanders.

Sanders totally blew him off, said he's not a fan of big pharma (we knew that) and donated Pharma Bro's money to a Washington health clinic

Now we learn that Pharma Bro was so PISSED OFF at Sanders for doing so that he punched a wall and broke a wrist, says Mother Jones.  Petulant little jerk.

Well, he says he broke his wrist. It looks like the X-ray Pharma Bro posted on line is a stock image of a random broken wrist, Mother Jones notes.  Could be anybody's.

A subsequent social media post shows Shkreli playing the guitar, which would be hard to do with a broken wrist.

But he can keep whining all he wants. I don't feel sorry for him. I'm guessing Bernie doesn't either, but you'd have to ask him.

Jerk With Pinnochio Tattoo In Worst Possible Place Banned From Airline Flight

Tom Washington and part of his, um,
interesting Pinocchio tattoo.  

It seems like everybody has tattoos these days

Some of the tattoos are really awesome and creative. Others, not so much.

Then there's Tom Washington, 22, a British guy who was kicked off a Jet2.com flight and banned frm the airline for life for showing his, um, creative tattoo to other passengers aboard a recent flight.

That tattoo of Pinocchio , as the Grimsley Telegraph in England delicately puts it, is "located in his pubic area."

You'll never guess what the tattoo of Pinocchio's nose is on Washington.

Let's really not go there.

It didn't help that Washington is the life of the party, of sorts. Not a party I'd necessarily want to go to, but a party guy nonetheless.

He and about 20 of his friends boarded the flight dressed as female Jet2.com flight attendants.

Here's how Washington described the scene as the May 1 flight got ready to take off.

"I got up up but because my jacket was too tight, it exposed my chest which I had covered with a bra." 

How considerate!

He goes on about the next moment, when the flight crew typical gives the pre-flight safety speech:

"I then proceeded to 'help' the cabin staff with the talk using a sex toy. There were some old men on the plane as well and they were a laugh. The lads mentioned I had a tattoo of Pinocchio which I showed them and that was the point when the manager took my passport."

Yeah, the flight crew was probably afraid of what Washington would do next. God forbid if somebody on the plane started talking and not telling the truth.

I wonder (not obsessively!) if Washington has a sexual fetish with that tattoo. Can you hear him with some gal or guy, depending on his sexual orientation: "Oh, baby, lie to me, just don't tell me the truth, I'll lie to you, too. Oh yes, more lies, yes, yes, YES!!!"

I also hope I'm never anywhere near Washington when the Eurythmics song "Would I Lie To You" starts playing.

This guy should also stay away from politicans, too. Especially American ones.

And of course, we'd likely hear this sentence uttered by somebody meeting this guy: "Are you lying to me or are you just happy to see me?"

Don't Jerk And Drive In South Dakota

This seems to be a little insulting: My in-laws have been told not to "jerk and drive."

The South Dakota road (and sexual?) safety hashtag

The Modereger clan lives largely in South Dakota, and actually, they were among all South Dakota state residents who were recently told to not "jerk and drive."

Before we go on, South Dakota authorities tell us to get our minds out of the gutter. See, "don't jerk and drive" is not really a message to not, um, have fun with yourself while you're driving, though that's strongly discouraged too.

Television station KMTV in Omaha, Nebraska says what South Dakota state road safety officials are trying to say is to not jerk the steering wheel while you're driving on icy winter South Dakota roads - and presumably any road anywhere that has snow or ice on it.

Says a South Dakota public service announcement:

"Should your tire leave a snowy or icy road, resist the urge to jerk the steering wheel. Over correcting only results in chaos. Besides, nobody likes a jerker."

The South Dakota director of Public Safety says he's aware of the campaign's double meaning. He says South Dakota drivers should keep their cars out of the ditch and their minds out of the gutter.

So take THAT, you people driving across South Dakota in the winter!

However, someone with the South Dakota Office of Highway Safety says the campaign has outperformed previous ones and has reached the demographic of young men, which is hard to reach, says KMTV.

So actually, in a way, the state is keeping its mind in the gutter, because they know young men sometimes have their minds there, too, apparently.

Well, as long as we keep their cars out of the ditch, I guess that's fine.

However, we now have some sad late breaking news, The Argus Leader newspaper in Sioux Falls, South Dakota is now reporting the state is going to pull the "Don't Jerk and Drive" campaign. 

I guess some state lawjerkers, er, lawmakers, were upset with the ad campaign

According to the Argus Leader:

"Before the cancellation, state Rep. Mike Verchio was planning on calling (highway safety director Lee) Axdahl before the Transportation Committee next month to 'explain why they would do something like that.'"

Like why isn't obvious to Verchio, a Republican from Hill City, South Dakota. But Verchio said his constitutents were upset by "Don't Jerk and Drive"

The ad campaign was successful, as anything strange like this would be.

State authorities said more than 16,000 people saw the campaign, with its #Don'tJerkAndDrive hashtag, and this public safety campaign outperformed previous ones by a ratio of 25 to 1.

Outperformed, get it?

OK, time to get my mind out of the gutter. I'll stop being a jerk now.

Arizona Beach Ball Hater Is Probably In Hiding Now

A kid gives the guy next to him (in backward blue ball cap)
 a big thumbs down after the guy destroyed a
beach ball that was bouncing around the stands.  

A video showing a football fan destroying a beach ball that had been bouncing around a stadium went viral yesterday.  

Now the guy who smushed the beach ball is facing the wrath of the Internet.

The back story: Last week at a college football season opener in Arizona, fans batted a beach ball around the stands, something that happens a lot at events like that. It's harmless, festive fun.

But this guy would have none of that. No fun beach balls while he's trying to watch the game!. So he stomped the beach ball and tossed it away, and congratulated himself by applauding his own deed.

This was all caught on video, and the reviews of this guy are brutal. The Bleacher Report called him a "no-good, cargo-short-wearing schlub, and he must be brought to justice."

I'm sure people have figured out who he is went viral, so he will be publicly humiliated. Granted, bursting a beach ball is not a High Crime Against Humanity, so even though the guy is a jerk, he probably doesn't deserve the world's wrath.

But is fun in a weird way to point and laugh at the moron who apparently hates fun.

Here's the video:

This Year's Nominee For Man Who Did Worst Job Handling His Romantic Breakup The

Seattle area law enforcement said they arrested a jerk
for telling them his ex-girlfriend had a bomb
aboard a Southwest flight. He was getting back
 at her for breaking up with him, say authorities.  

If what police say is right, our nominee for creepiest guy, guy who does the worst job of handling a romantic breakup and all around jerk goes to Zachary Milliren, 26, of the Seattle area.  

A 22 year old woman broke up with him not long ago. I'm guessing she wanted to get away from it all, especially him, so she boarded a Southwest flight from Seattle to Las Vegas on June 18.

Milliren knew she was on the plane, so he did what any reasonable jilted man crazed maniac would do. He called police and said the woman had a bomb with her and planned on blowing up the plane, accoring to Seattle PI.

When this sort of thing happens, even if the whole threat seems like a stupid threat, you have to evacuate the plane, and in this case, interview the woman who was said to have the bomb.

Of course, the woman didn't have a bomb, but she certainly had a real dud of an ex-boyfriend. If what police say is accurate, he's one of those horrible, mentally ill people who scare the bejeezus out of their ex's by threatening them. Because they had the GALL to (wisely) leave them.

I'm not minimizing it, either. These guys ARE threats. I just hope he doesn't end up killing anybody.

The woman thought it wise to mention to police the threatening notes she'd gotten from Milligren, so they had their suspect.

He was easy to catch, too. (These wackos are usually pretty dumb) Milliren phoned in the bomb threats from his grandmother's house, police said.

The threats against the ex-girlfriend were pretty scary, so he faces charges along those lines, too. Some of the "love" notes he wrote after the breakup included, "Every day you will be unsafe...Just because you're in another state doesn't mean I can't get you."

And this doozy: "If the pigs come after me because of you, you will live the rest of our life in fear." That one went out to the woman right before he called in the bomb threats.

Milliren thought he was home free, though. He told police he was innocent because, "I didn't make a bomb threat...I just said my girlfriend had a bomb."

Not surprisingly, that argument, did not, um, fly.

He's charged with making a bomb threat and intimidating a witness, and was being held on $250,000 bails, says Seattle PI.

So at least he's off the streets and the women of Washington State are (temporarily, at least) safe from this clown.



 

Wicked Creepy Guy Banned From Internet Due to Bizarre "Prank"

This is Jason Willis' idea of a good time:

Jason Willis has been kicked off the Internet
for committing a weird crime against his neighbor.  

Put an ad on Craigslist, telling people to show up at his unsuspecting neighbor's house naked.  He put her name, address and photo in the ad, too.

So the neighbor had all kinds of weirdos show up at her doorstep. And these weirdos now know where she lives.

According to police, Willis, 31, of Wisconsin, thought this was a great prank. Kind of on par with dropping a water balloon on a kid out in the yard on a hot summer's day

Of course the neighbor, police and society got the last laugh.  A judge has ordered Willis kicked off the Internet. He cannot go on line for at least 30 months, during his probation. If goes on line even once, Willis could spend 18 months behind bars.

According to Uproxx:

"Judge Pat Torhorst determined the Internet was Willis' 'weapon' in the crime and issued the ban as a way to disarm him. 'If you want to drive drunk, you're not allowed to drive! To me, a public availability of the Internet to use it the way he did, is unconscionable,' he said."

Nowadays, such a sentence, being kicked off the Internet is severe. If you want to apply for a job, you usually have to do it on line. Most jobs are done in part on line.

Increasingly, you have to pay your bills on line.  Most people communicate on a day to day basis via email, text or social media, so having friends is tough without the Internet.

Who'd want to be Willis' friend anyway? But that's another story.

Being kicked off the Internet is far more difficult than being barred from driving, using the judge's drunk driving analogy. You can take public transportation, bum a ride from a friend, or, yes, go on the Internet to get stuff done. You don't need a car so much.

Normally, I'd be opposed to a judge sentencing someone to stay off the Internet. It almost amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.

But GAWD, what Willis did is so creepy. That neighbor could have been raped or killed. She's probably still afraid.

(Note: Me, and the rest of the media are not making the woman's name or any other identifying information public. She's been through enough.)

So I'm glad Willis is not online, at least for awhile. The only bummer is he can't read on line how many people think he's disgusting. He can't read this blog post, for example, given that it's only available on the Internet.

Willis apparently never did give a good explanation as to why he conducted this "prank."  According to the Journal Times in Wisconsin, he did it for "fun" and as retribution to the woman for picking on him for previously being in jail on an unrelated charge.

I'm personally tempted to put an ad out and send creepy people to his house to see whether he likes it, but I'll resist the urge.

I'm too addicted to the Internet.

Pepper Spraying Cop Joins the Troll Club

The other day, I blogged about a YouTube troll who took things a step too far and ignited a firestorm against him that I'm sure was far, far bigger than he ever anticipated.

Now we have that revulsion against Lt. John Pike, the UC Davis cop who is leading the news on most major media outlets this morning for casually pepper spraying unarmed, seated and not particularly dangerous looking protesters. on the UC Davis campus.

At the very least, he ought to be fired, and probably prosecuted for assault. It's true we don't see everything that led up to the pepper spraying, and it is appropriate for cops to use the stuff when they are endangered by a crowd that needs to be subdued.

Lt. John Pike casually pepper sprays protestors at UC Davis.

But the video seems to show he was not in any danger, and was in a pretty relaxed mood. Was he just doing this because it was fun? Retaliating because he had to work at some stupid Occupy protest when he could have been sitting on his couch? Nobody knows.

There will be an investigation, one hopes.

But like our YouTube troll, our pepper-loving buddy Pike is all over the Internet. People know his name, his address, his phone number. Pretty scary. Surely he feels under seige. Which he deserves, at least to an extent.

It's the new way of putting people in stocks, on public display, for humiliation.

Nowadays, somebody does  something wrong, it's all over social media in an instant,  and a zillion people humiliate and threaten him on the Internet. Sometimes it's like killing a mosquito with a nuclear bomb, but there you go. It's the reality, like it or not.

Of course I worry about some hothead hurting Pike as I always worry in this kind of situation. Let's not break any more laws, folks.

I don't know what Pike is like most of the time, but in the video he is the World's Biggest Jerk. I hope nobody else tries to take the title away from him.