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Connections

Connections: Prescription Drug Price Gouging

Outrage over the cost of a pill. You might have seen the story this week: a former hedge fund manager buys the rights to a pill that can save lives, then raises the price 5000% overnight. Daraprim has been around for 62 years, treating malaria and toxoplasmosis; AIDS patients in particular can benefit from the drug. When a company called Turing acquired the drug, the price jumped from $13.50 per pill to $750. Turing's CEO said that this is the cost of doing research, which could lead to better drugs. Critics have called this the worst kind of price gouging. Our panel discusses it:

  • Dr. William Valenti, Trillium Health vice president and lead physician
  • Dr. Jonathan Hager, primary care physician
  • Jane Dodds, Practice Administrator with Women Gynecology & Childbirth Associates, and a member of the Board of the New York State Medical Group Management Association
Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.