Anitbiotic price hike was ‘moral’

THE head of a small Kansas City pharmaceutical company is defending himself after a financial publication reported that he said he had a “moral requirement” to raise the price of a 65-year-old antibiotic by 400 percent.

Nostrum Laboratories founder Nirmal Mulye said his comments to the Londonbased Financial Times were taken out of context, The Kansas City Star reports. The Financial Times has said it sticks by its story, which led to a sharp rebuke from Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb and others. Mulye said he has received threats.

The day the story went online, Gottlieb said in a tweet: “There’s no moral imperative to price gouge and take advantage of patients.”

At issue is Nostrum’s plan to hike the price of nitrofurantoin, an antibiotic used to treat bladder infections. In the Financial Times’ story, Mulye defends the price increase of $474.75 to $2,392.

“I think it is a moral requirement to make money when you can … to sell the product for the highest price,” he was quoted as saying. Mulye later claimed he was talking about his obligation to his employees.