At the first Democratic primary debate on Tuesday, Sanders said he is proud of being tough on the pharmaceutical industry. On Thursday he confirmed to Statnews.com that he had granted $2,700 (the maximum individual donation) to the independent Vermont Senator September 28.
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Shkreli had hoped to meet with Sanders to explain how drug companies set their prices, after the candidate had been one of the most vocal critics of the price hike, but his campaign office has indicated that is something which is not going to take place.
In an interview with CNBC last month, Martin Shkreli was asked if he felt “bad about what was happening”.
“Our political system is corrupt. I think that we’re dramatically increasing the access to Daraprim, giving more drug away for free, half of the drug we give away is for $1, so I’m not sure what you’re talking about”. Thank you again for your support.
However, on Thursday the situation changed after Sanders’ campaign spokesman Michael Briggs announced that the senator wouldn’t keep the donation and instead the whole sum would be sent to Whitman-Walker health clinic in Washington, DC.
As of a week ago, pharmaceuticals purveyor Martin Shkreli hadn’t kept his promise to lower the cost of a toxoplasmosis drug after outcry over its 5,000% price hike over the summer.
After learning that the donation was rejected, Shkreli evidently became angry. What’s holding things up, per Shkreli: the assessment process to find a pricing/demand sweet spot to bring the price per pill down from the current $750. “There have been hundreds of companies that have raised [their drug prices] higher, and they’re not rolling back their prices, so why should we?”
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In response to Shkreli’s failure to make Daraprim more affordable, Sanders and Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Democrat from Maryland, denounced prescription price gouging last week in a statement specifically aimed at Turing Pharmaceuticals and its CEO. The presidential candidate was a long-tome opponent of United States campaign in Iraq and USA foreign policy in general.
