releases: https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/senators-slam-pharma-ceo-for-drug-pricing-wu-tang-clan-album-buy
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/senators-slam-pharma-ceo-for-drug-pricing-wu-tang-clan-album-buy | Senators slam pharma CEO for drug pricing, Wu Tang Clan album buy | 2015-12-09 | 2015 | 2015-12 | Democrat | House | MO | Claire McCaskill | M001170 | www.mccaskill.senate.gov | legacy | Senators slam pharma CEO for drug pricing, Wu Tang Clan album buy Wednesday, December 9, 2015 By: Sarah Ferris A pair of top senators lashed out Wednesday against several now-infamous drug company CEOs, including Martin Shkreli, who have been accused of price-gouging on potentially life-saving treatments. My biggest challenge today is to not lose my temper, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said. The facts underlying this hearing are so egregious but its hard not to get emotional about it. McCaskill, who co-led the Senates first hearing on drug pricing this year, directed most of her attacks against Shkreli, the 32-year-old hedge fund manager-turned-CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. This is the same guy who thought it was a great idea to pay millions of dollars for the only existing album of the Wu Tang Clan, she said, to sneers throughout the room, referring to areport on Wednesdaythat Shkreli shelled out $2 million for the only copy of "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin," the most expensive album ever sold. Shkreli, repeatedly dubbed the most hated man in America, has been under fire from congressional committees as well as presidential candidates from both parties. Donald Trump recently trashed him as a spoiled brat, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) redirected the CEOs campaign contribution to charity. Shkreli, meanwhile, has basked in the attention further inflaming his critics on Twitter after deciding to live-stream his every move for 24 straight hours. McCaskill said she has been repeatedly shunted in her investigation of Turing, which came under fire after reports that it raised the costs of a decades-old anti-parasitic drug from $13.50 to $750 per bill. Valeant refused to answer my questions and instead downplayed my concerns, she said, raising her voice. As she turned to the witness panel of mostly medical experts and doctors, McCaskill thanked her co-chair of the committee Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) because she calms me down. Collins, in her slow, even tone, also blasted the companies for creating excuses to raise their prices without explanation. Some of the companies that have been the focus of our investigation look more like hedge funds than they do pharmaceutical companies, Collins said. Print Email Tweet | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |