“A pharma executive has defended his decision to raise the price of an antibiotic mixture to more than $2,000 a bottle, arguing there was a ‘moral requirement to sell the product at the highest price,'” David Crow writes over at The Financial Times. “Last month, Nostrum Laboratories, a small Missouri-based drugmaker, more than quadrupled the price of a bottle of nitrofurantoin from $474.75 to $2,392, according to Elsevier’s Gold Standard drug database. Nitrofurantoin is an antibiotic used to treat bladder infections that was first marketed in 1953, which appears on the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines. It comes in a tablet form as well as a liquid version that Nostrum makes.In an interview, Nirmal Mulye, Nostrum chief executive, said he had priced the product according to market dynamics, adding: ‘I think it is a moral requirement to make money when you can . . . to sell the product for the highest price. … This is a capitalist economy and if you can’t make money you can’t stay in business.'” David Crow, “Pharma chief defends 400% drug price rise as a ‘moral requirement,’” The Financial Times.
Jeanne Pinder
Jeanne Pinder is the founder and CEO of ClearHealthCosts. She worked at The New York Times for almost 25 years as a reporter, editor and human resources executive, then volunteered for a buyout and founded... More by Jeanne Pinder
