The Scariest Halloween Costume This Year? Medical Device/Pharma Executive
October 23, 2015
Thinking about your Halloween costume this year? Pirate? Slutty pumpkin? Incarcerated med device or pharma CEO? Trending, as predicted on this site in January 2015, to be a pretty popular look where disgraced CEO’s are no longer escaping via golden parachutes but rather federal golden handcuffs. Two of the latest contender’s companies caused quite a fright in the market this week: AbbVie’s FDA warning letter for their Hep C drug & Citron’s valuation of Valeant, which refers to the company as a pharma equivalent to Enron. Neither of theses recent events will spook frequent readers of this site as overinflated projections that falsely demonstrate hypergrowth as a means of obtaining profits fraudulently, or the industry harming or killing patients, is pretty much the foundation of this site and The Sociopathic Business Model™.
Drew Armstrong, an editor for Bloomberg News at least has some fun with it, though.
Is it…. PHARMAGEDDON?
— Drew Armstrong (@ArmstrongDrew) October 22, 2015
All the stocks in my world be like: pic.twitter.com/J5aENALgcX — Drew Armstrong (@ArmstrongDrew) October 22, 2015
What I am shocked about is how stunned the market is that fraud exists. The Wolf of Wall Street clearly not scary enough for them, they had to go and find a werewolf this Halloween season. Actually, CEO, Richard (Rick) Gonzalez of AbbVie, looks more like something Frankenstein cobbled together; and, if you think that was unkind read what his employees think about him from the anonymous industry message board Medtech[y]. The dislike might stem from the fact that employees are fearful of job loss while their CEO pads his $16 million paycheck with an additional $500K in jet travel, which makes their dislike and CEO troll doll justified and a little funny.
![Medtech[y]](https://www.killingmycareer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Abbvie-Rick-Gonzalez-unethical-history.png)
An executive caught falsifying their college degree is sociopathic, isn’t it? Medtech[y]
Abbvie CEO Richard (Ricky) Gonzalez lied twice about having college degrees & lied to the SEC about those degrees. Abbott, the parent company’s excusing & defense of subsidiary Abbvie’s CEO Gonzalez demonstrates a corporate culture that accepts, encourages, replicates and rewards unethical and illegal behavior.
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick says his company is maturing, but it isn’t yet ready for an IPO https://t.co/nUToXKZ2tB pic.twitter.com/NCVQJxNHy7 — Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) October 21, 2015
Here’s a spooky tale from the future, what you’re seeing in pharma is also entrenched in med device and tech; and, nope, Travis no one is buying Uber is maturing but just isn’t quite ready to IPO yet. You tried to go to prom already, got smacked down by the prom queen and are left feeling up a lunch lady. People, like Andrew Left from Citron Research, are finally paying attention to what those of us in the industry have known for years, especially those who’ve worked in startups: overinflated projections used to create hypergrowth for investors=fraud.
EXCLUSIVE: Andrew Left of @CitronResearch on @bloombergtv, talking his Valeant short report https://t.co/yCvwX2jNre pic.twitter.com/o8D9WzYGIG — Drew Armstrong (@ArmstrongDrew) October 22, 2015
Vomiting pony formation in Valeant shares. Shares below $100 for the first time since 2013. Brutal. pic.twitter.com/crUC8LxQU1 — Robin Wigglesworth (@RobinWigg) October 22, 2015
$VRX CEO Michael Pearson, upon hearing @MartinShkreli was going on TV to defend him. pic.twitter.com/WzNdum2lui — Adam Feuerstein (@adamfeuerstein) October 22, 2015
We’re likely to see similar patterns of inconsistent & contradictory language to action, manipulation of facts with shame, remorse guilt or accountability like that of Uber with companies like Theranos and 23 and Me in the coming months. We might have to expand the #GodsOfFrauds hashtag to include #GoddessesOf Frauds.
So, Drew Armstrong of Bloomberg, on your mark, get set, GIF, you’re going to be busy in the coming months:
Yup it’s official today/this week is just completely insane pic.twitter.com/0m2yJe7pfx
— Drew Armstrong (@ArmstrongDrew) October 22, 2015
And, if this round-up doesn’t already have you sleeping with the lights on, or at least fearing dropping the soap, Qmed’s 10 Scary Antique Medical Devices for Halloween by Brian Buntz is sure to send a shiver down the spine.
Previous posts on Valeant
Lana Keeton
All I can say is “Wow! Would certainly never get this understanding from reading the news. Now I see the #StartUp and venture capital disasters you describe, the ones already upon us and the ones to come. And how it is intertwined with the drugs and devices harming patients. Beyond what I would have ever imagined. Thank you, Melayna.