Drug goes from $13.50 a tablet to $750, overnight

Toxoplasmosis, of course, is not AIDS or cancer; it is a food-borne disease that specifically affects patients who are suffering already from AIDS or cancer.

The drug pyrimethamine (Daraprim)-which has become the standard of care for treating a life-threatening parasitic infection-was acquired in August by Turing Pharmaceuticals.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Betty Liu on Monday, the company’s CEO Martin Shkreli defended the move, explaining that they “need to turn a profit on the drug”. “Even patients with insurance could have trouble affording the medication”.

The new fee could raise the price of treatment for some patients to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. It comes from eating under-cooked meat, cooking with contaminated knives and boards, drinking unclean water and contact with infected cat feces. But not all patients in the United States have medical insurance that can compensate for the cost of the drug, especially young mothers who can pass on the decease to their child. Symptoms can feel flu-like, but the parasite attacks the brain and can lead to blindness or brain damage.

The high cost of prescription drugs is shaping up to be an issue in the 2016 presidential election. Two examples are the heart drugs Isuprel and Nitropress, which rose by 525% and 212%, respectively, previous year after Valeant bought them from Marathon Pharmaceuticals.

Very rich people are using their wealth, and slimy short selling methods, to manipulate stock prices and make acquisitions of older drug companies to become even richer by price gouging.

The HIV Medicine Association and Infectious Diseases Society of America wrote Turing about concerns over the new price.

Aberg says there are no alternative drugs for Daraprim and other treatments aren’t strong enough. As drug costs have been steadily rising, studies have found that more Americans are cutting back in other areas because they’re having a hard time paying for their prescriptions.

McLeod heads research on toxoplasmosis in Chicago. “This is still one of the smallest pharmaceutical products in the world,” he said.

It’s critical that the treatment stays readily available, McLeod said.

A Turing spokesman, Craig Rothenberg, said the company is working with hospitals and providers to get every patient covered.

Gilead ($GILD) did something similar and was charged of taking advantage of patients with its sudden and steep price hike for hep C drugs, and the company had just cured the disease without all the ugly side effects associated with earlier drug regimens. The company plans on using the price not compensate its top executives with ungodly sums, he swears, but to invest in research and make people more aware of disease.