Forbes June 29, 2022
Having worked in healthcare most of my life, very little surprises me. But four years ago, I was shocked by the unfiltered honesty of one drug-company CEO.
Asked to explain why he raised the price of an antibiotic by more than 400%, Nirmal Mulye, CEO of Nostrum Laboratories, told the Financial Times: “I think it’s a moral requirement to make money when you can … to sell the product for the highest price.”
The product Mulye mentioned wasn’t a new medication. He was talking about nitrofurantoin, a drug first created in 1953 to treat bladder infections. It sits on the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines.
Mulye’s defense of a 400% drug price increase as a “moral requirement” made...