The power of social media has been proven yet again, as CEO Martin Shkreli was forced to reverse plans to increase the price of the drug Daraprim by over 5000 percent. The increase would have meant a $13.50 tablet would soon cost $750. However, he did not say what the new price would be.

 

This drug, which has been around for over six decades, is used by some AIDS and cancer patients to treat the parasitic infection toxoplasmosis. 

 

Upon hearing the news of the insanely greedy increase, people flew into a rage. Shkreli was called a ghoul and was accused of putting profit ahead of people's health. At first he mocked his attackers, saying they knew nothing about business and that his company needed the money to make better drugs. (Yeah, better and even more expensive, no doubt.)

 

Shkreli partially capitulated, appearing on NBC News on Tuesday night to say that he would lower the planned increase. He did not say what the new price per tablet would be, arguing that this would take weeks for his company to sort out. He promised that the new price would allow the company to make a small profit or, at the very least, break even.

 

"There were mistakes made with respect to helping people understand why we took this action," he said, "I think that it makes sense to lower the price in response to the anger that was felt by people."

 

No, it makes sense to lower the price because it's the right thing to do. And let's not be surprised if the new price is  "only" in the low hundreds.