69. Pharma Bro 1: Is greed inherently bad?

In September 2015, Martin Shkreli’s name made headlines. He quickly became ‘the most hated man in America’ after he raised the price of the life-saving drug, Daraprim, by more than 4,000% - almost overnight.

He was vilified by the press and the public alike and was often referred to as ‘pharma bro’, a representation of everything that was seemingly wrong with Big Pharma. Was Martin Shkreli unfairly singled out? How was any of it legal? And is ruthlessness in business justified?

This is part one of two. On this episode of Bad People Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen discuss greed and whether it’s inherently bad. This episode includes audio from the 2021 documentary ‘Pharma Bro’ by Blumhouse Productions, directed by Brent Hodge.

CREDITS Presenters: Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen Producer: Simona Rata Music: Matt Chandler Editor: Anna Lacey #BadPeople_BBC Commissioning Assistant Producer: Adam Eland Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins Bad People is produced in partnership with The Open University and is a BBC Audio Science Production for BBC Sounds.