Bernie Sanders Rejects Donation From CEO Who Spiked Life-Saving Drug's Price
Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has joined the long list of people who are not fans of Turning Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli.
Shkreli received heavy criticism last month after his company raised the price of a life-saving drug, Daraprim, by more than 5,000 percent. The price of the drug used to treat AIDS and cancer patients went from $13.50 per tablet to $750.
This week, following the Democratic presidential debates, Shkreli announced on Twitter that he’d previously made a $2,700 donation to the Sanders campaign, which quickly rejected the donation, Mashable reported.
Damn @BernieSanders is my boy with that Kosovo reference. Gets my full endorsement. I did donate to him…
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) October 14, 2015
“He is the poster boy for pharmaceutical company greed,” Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs told Mashable. “We don’t want his stinkin’ money.”
The greed of the pharmaceutical industry is a public health hazard to the American people.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) October 9, 2015
Shkreli’s contribution to Sanders will instead be donated to a Washington, D.C. health center that treats HIV and AIDs called Whitman-Walker Health.
Martin Shkreli is furious he couldn't meet with Bernie Sanders http://t.co/r9OEL4DGwG pic.twitter.com/VofmvAP2Ji
— Salon.com (@Salon) October 16, 2015
Sanders’s rejection comes on the heels of the announcement this week that the New York Attorney General’s office has launched an investigation into Shkreli’s potentially illegal restriction of the the distribution of Daraprim.
Melissa McGlensey is the former News Editor at The Mighty. Her writing can also be seen in Ms. Magazine, on the Ms.Magazine blog and in The Huffington Post’s Good News, Comedy and Impact sections. Melissa is also a New York City comedian who does sketch, improv and stand up. She is passionate about social justice, politics, Thai food, literature, disability rights and more. She is currently in a long-distance relationship with her cat, Sneakers, who lives in California. You can follow her on twitter at @OhHeyMeliss.
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