First of all

I’m not paying close attention to details lately: today is the last day of summer, not yesterday. I feel like the New York Times having to make a correction on an article from the day before. Crap, I was so close!

But let’s get to the point. I’m sure many of you have read about the pharmaceutical company that has raised the price of Daraprim, a drug that is used to fight Toxoplasmosis (a disease that often accompanies HIV and cancer, neither disease which is in anyway significant to me or has affected me in any personal way) from $13.50 to $750.00 per pill.

Martin Shkreli, the head of the pharmaceutical company defends the price increase by saying that it was unprofitable at the previous rate, and that the increase was “reasonable”.

Mr. Shkreli, I have one word for you: you-asshole-you-bastard-you-money-hungry-thieving-buttplug-and-yes-you-motherfucker.

Let’s face the facts, of the people who take Daraprim, a handful are fabulously wealthy and will pay any price for the drug. Many, hopefully most, either have private insurance (yay, Obamacare) or are on some tax-payer funded program. The rest will find they can’t afford it and will die. Teach them to get a dread disease in the United States instead of some civilized country.

Okay, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 60 million Americans suffer from Toxoplasmosis. (Wow, who would have guessed!) And let’s guess who is will be paying the vast majority of the increase in the price of the drug, be it through increased taxes or insurance rates.  

That would be you and me and Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice, folks.

Let’s say they all take one pill a day. Do the math. The government and yes, the healthcare industry, could set aside just over $800 billion dollars for a five year program to create a new drug that is as good and still not lose money.

And as a sweet sidelight, we could send Mr. Shkreli bankrupt. He is already there, morally.