Bernie Sanders rejected a donation from the 'most hated man on the internet'

Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign has refused a donation from hedge fund manager turned pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli.

Shkreli, the boss of Turning Pharmaceuticals, has been criticised in recent weeks for raising the price of a unique treatment for a life-saving HIV drug by 4,000 per cent overnight.

Sanders described the prise rise as "blatant profiteering", a description Shkreli has rebuked:

Right now the rule of law in the United States is that drug companies can price their products wherever they see fit, not wherever he sees fit.

If the rule changes by congressional vote, then you know, I’ll adapt to the rules.

Shkreli attempted to donate $2,700 (the cost of roughly five and a half of his pills after the price hike), which, although originally accepted, has since been rejected by the Sanders campaign, which said in a statement:

We are not keeping the money from this poster boy for drug company greed.

Shkreli said in response, in an interview with Stat, that Sanders was “talking out of his rear end so that he gets some votes":

I’d ask him, what role does innovation play in health care?

The donation was apparently genuine; Shkreli supports some of Sanders's healthcare policies. It could also have been an attempt to set up a meeting with Sanders to discuss the pharmaceutical industry.

HT TheHill

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