Company with bases in Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba criticized for alleged abusive practices
Not smart – but the right thing to do. That was the verdict of Billionaire Charles Munger on his own decision to publicly criticize Valeant Pharmaceuticals International.
Speaking out about what he views as abusive practices, Munger didn’t hold back at the annual meeting of his Daily Journal Corporation in Los Angeles.
“I couldn’t resist calling attention to it,” he said. “These crazy false values and this crazy excess is bad morals and it’s bad policy. It’s bad for the nation. It’s just bad, bad, bad.”
Last year, the drugmaker, which has manufacturing facilities in Ontario, Manitoba and Quebec, was accused of turning to a mail-order pharmacy in order to increase its sales. Since then lawmakers have examined how the firm set its medication prices and its stock had tumbled 60 per cent from its peak during August last year.
Munger had described the policy of acquiring the rights for treatments and then increasing prices as “similar to the worst abuses in for-profit education.”
His comments earned a fast reaction from money manager Bill Ackman, who fired back at Munger with criticism for his holding in Coca-Cola commenting that the soft drink company had “probably done more to create obesity and diabetes on a global basis than any other company in the world.”
In particular, the Valeant heart drugs Isuprel and Nitropress have been criticised – when Valeant took the rights to the drugs it raised their prices by 525 per cent and 212 per cent respectively.
Speaking out about what he views as abusive practices, Munger didn’t hold back at the annual meeting of his Daily Journal Corporation in Los Angeles.
“I couldn’t resist calling attention to it,” he said. “These crazy false values and this crazy excess is bad morals and it’s bad policy. It’s bad for the nation. It’s just bad, bad, bad.”
Last year, the drugmaker, which has manufacturing facilities in Ontario, Manitoba and Quebec, was accused of turning to a mail-order pharmacy in order to increase its sales. Since then lawmakers have examined how the firm set its medication prices and its stock had tumbled 60 per cent from its peak during August last year.
Munger had described the policy of acquiring the rights for treatments and then increasing prices as “similar to the worst abuses in for-profit education.”
His comments earned a fast reaction from money manager Bill Ackman, who fired back at Munger with criticism for his holding in Coca-Cola commenting that the soft drink company had “probably done more to create obesity and diabetes on a global basis than any other company in the world.”
In particular, the Valeant heart drugs Isuprel and Nitropress have been criticised – when Valeant took the rights to the drugs it raised their prices by 525 per cent and 212 per cent respectively.
