Martin Shkreli: Pharmaceutical CEO Raises AIDS Medication From $13.50 to $750

Turing Pharmaceuticals of New York, the company behind the AIDS medication Daraprim, has been catching a lot of crap for what many are calling price gouging. The price of that medication Daraprim has jumped from $13.50 to now $750 per pill. What was once an affordable solution for anyone suffering from toxoplasmosis due to a weakened immune system – which is usually made up of AIDS patients and pregnant women – is now 5000% more than the original price. Turig's CEO Martin Shkreli told NBC News he didn't anticipate the negative action that he would receive.

Schkreli says that while he does plan on lowering the price of the drug, there was a reason for it.

"Yes it is absolutely a reaction – there were mistakes made with respect to helping people understand why we took this action, I think that it makes sense to lower the price in response to the anger that was felt by people," Shkreli said.

"It's very easy to see a large drug price increase and say 'Gosh, those people must be gouging.' But when you find out that the company is not really making any money, what does that mean," he continued. "It's very hard stuff to understand."

Shkreli then went on to repeat while he understands the outrage, we the public just don't understand certain things as it pertains to "quality control, regulatory costs, and all the other things that come with having a drug company."

One person who has taken up a battle against Turing was Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. This prompted Clinton to outline a plan on how much patients have to pay for their medications each month. The Infectious Diseases Society of America and the HIV Medicine Association has also taken up arms against Turing and it's CEO.

They say, "This cost is unjustifiable for the medically vulnerable patient population in need of this medication."

What do you think?