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Another pharma CEO raised the price of an essential medicine by 400%

Nitrofurantoin is an antibiotic classified by the World Health Organization as an essential medicine due to its importance.

Another pharma CEO raised the price of an essential medicine by 400%

[Photo: frolicsomepl/Pixabay]

BY Michael Grothaus0 minute read

Nirmal Mulye, the CEO of a small Missouri-based drug company called Nostrum Laboratories, has raised the price of his drug, nitrofurantoin, from $474.75 to $2,392 per bottle last month, reports the Financial Times. Nitrofurantoin is an antibiotic used to treat urinary tract infections and is classified by the World Health Organization as an essential medicine due to its importance. So the thing you want to do is make the drug as pricey as possible, obviously.

Shkreli Jr.–er, Mulye–defended his price gouging by saying he has a “moral requirement to make money when you can.” Mulye then went on to try to rationalize his greed at the cost of others’ suffering by saying his price gouging is no different than Apple charging more for iPhones and automakers charging more for cars. Of course, those products aren’t designed to save lives–not that the argument matters. After all, Mulye has morality on his side.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Grothaus is a novelist and author. He has written for Fast Company since 2013, where he's interviewed some of the tech industry’s most prominent leaders and writes about everything from Apple and artificial intelligence to the effects of technology on individuals and society. Michael’s current tech-focused areas of interest include AI, quantum computing, and the ways tech can improve the quality of life for the elderly and individuals with disabilities More


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