Deaths of Canada billionaire Barry Sherman and wife 'suspicious'
A Canadian billionaire and his wife have been found dead at their home in Toronto in circumstances that police described as "suspicious".
The bodies of Barry Sherman and his wife Honey were found in the basement by an estate agent, reports said.
Mr Sherman was the founder and chairman of pharmaceutical giant Apotex, which sells generic medicines around the world.
He was one of Canada's richest men and a prominent philanthropist.
There was no sign of forced entry to the property, police said in a statement Friday evening. Local media reported that investigators were not searching for a suspect at this time.
Detective Brandon Price told Canadian broadcaster CBC that investigators were still trying to determine if there was foul play involved.
Apotex is a Canadian pharmaceutical corporation. Founded in 1974 by Dr. Bernard Sherman, the company is the largest producer of generic drugs in Canada, with sales exceeding $1 billion (CAD) a year. The company produces more than 300 generic pharmaceuticals in approximately 4,000 dosages, and has 500 molecules under development. Apotex exports products to over 115 countries around the globe. There are more prescriptions filled with Apotex products in Canada than that of any other pharmaceutical company, close to 90 million per year.
Also at CBC.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 17 2017, @11:44AM (5 children)
Either this can't be trusted and the police regularly lie to the media, or the police are fucking idiots for not responding to every such request with refusal to answer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 17 2017, @12:03PM (3 children)
Probably because they have currently no leads as where to search for suspects (evidence found at the crime scene is being analysed first).
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 17 2017, @01:08PM (2 children)
Thought it could get away with this, and the Canadian government is figuring out what the fallout would be of disclosing that one of their supposed allies was making an example out of somebody like this under plans for either a hostile takeover or to send a message to other big generic pharma companies about muscling in on their territory...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Sunday December 17 2017, @02:32PM (1 child)
Big Pharma is evil, will price gouge no matter how many deaths that causes, and like Big Tobacco try to grow their markets by addicting consumers, and treat symptoms for a lifetime rather than causes once. But to engage in murder of rivals, as Columbian drug cartels do, no, I don't see that. Sure, that's possible, but it's not Big Pharma's style. Mainly, it's too risky. Columbian drug cartels got away with a lot of murder because law enforcement was weak and corrupted and could be intimidated, and the government had the bigger problem of a civil war against the FARC on its hands. A big part of such a murder is the fear factor. But to try that in Canada, where civic order is much stronger, is stupidly risky. It will be a lot harder and more expensive to derail the investigation, and crude attempts to bribe or threaten investigators are much more likely to backfire. To be so stealthy about it that no one can tell it was a murder won't have the same fear factor. In that case, why shouldn't the Apotex heirs just keep on with business as usual, in which case the murder will not have accomplished the goal of driving a rival out of business?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Sunday December 17 2017, @07:34PM
Yes, we all know how pure and crime free Canada is.
But maybe you should take a deeper look:
http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/out-of-sight-out-of-mind-2/ [macleans.ca]
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/10/18/genocide-first-nations-aboriginals-canada-un_n_4123112.html [huffingtonpost.ca]
http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/cj-jp/victim/rd3-rr3/p3.html [justice.gc.ca]
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 4, Informative) by frojack on Sunday December 17 2017, @07:45PM
Canadian law is different. Newspapers and media are forbidden to comment and speculate on crimes and the police are forbidden to talk about it.
Even covering trials is tricky business and can get you in trouble. The single quote is all the police said, and that is all that gets reported in-country.
If You want to know what actually happens in Canada you can't always turn to the Official Media.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/police-investigating-deaths-of-toronto-billionaire-barry-sherman-and-wife-as-murder-suicide/article37357096/ [theglobeandmail.com]
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 17 2017, @03:27PM
That is a good jew. Now that he and his wife are both dead. We can speak openly about his criminal activities. He stole formulas and ideas and called them his own and got very rich in the process. Nothing new for a jew.
Who knows how many of his generic formulas caused disease instead of curing anything! By the way, today's drugs are not meant to cure. They are meant to prolong suffering.
(Score: 5, Disagree) by unauthorized on Sunday December 17 2017, @03:59PM (9 children)
These are mutually exclusive terms. You cannot make billions out of sick people and call yourself a philanthropist.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 17 2017, @05:14PM (3 children)
Or is the profit motive which transmuted selfishness into helping others bad and so all which follows?
(this assumes no rent-seeking bullshit on his behalf)
(Score: 2, Flamebait) by unauthorized on Sunday December 17 2017, @07:05PM (2 children)
Pedophiles are motivated to keep kids in good health, so it makes perfect sense that pedophiles are the best choice for caretakers of prepubescent children. Their motive to diddle your kids will transmute into taking good care of them!
And sure, the pedos are likely to fuck your children, but we know for a fact that big pharma fucks you, so that's just another similarity to strengthen the analogy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 18 2017, @02:23PM (1 child)
Whereas here people did, and voluntarily gave him all that money.
>inb4 it isn't voluntary
Them dying slowly and painfully is the default. It sucks, but it is.
(Score: 1) by unauthorized on Monday December 18 2017, @10:33PM
Yes, congratulations, you've just discovered that analogies aren't completely identical to the original situation, otherwise they WILL BE the original situation. Crazy, I know.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by frojack on Sunday December 17 2017, @07:26PM (4 children)
Sure you can. First of all he manufactured generics. Second he gave the profits away.
Which would you rather have him do: stop making generic drugs, or stop giving profits away? Or give the drugs away for free?
None of that take from the rich and give to the poor mentality of yours seems to be applied toward government. Why is that.
But let a rich guy and his wife be found hung in their own basement, and you are immediately all over it with snearing derision.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 17 2017, @10:57PM
More likely they were found hanged.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 18 2017, @04:50PM
He gave the profits away...except for a few billion here and there.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Monday December 18 2017, @06:48PM
Well my first thoughts are good fucking riddance to that sad sack of shit. However, if he really did manufacture generics (which helps the poor immensely), and he gave ALL of the profits away, then I'll walk it back a bit.
However, again, you cannot be a billionaire in medicine without taking resources away that were meant for healing sick patients, as he was a DOCTOR. Medicine is one area in which I will never accept that profit exists. It means that doctors are no longer doctors, and medicine is just an industry. When that is true, I will celebrate all the deaths of those at the top of the pyramid existing off the suffering of others at the bottom.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by unauthorized on Monday December 18 2017, @10:28PM
Yes, reminds me of all the "green loving" politicians whose personal households waste more energy than the collective output of a small nation. It doesn't matter how much money you give to charity if you metaphorically bathe in the blood of orphans, I object to the classification of anyone as an altruistic person unless their conviction to help others doesn't permiate through out their entire lives.
This is not a moral judgement, I don't expect people to act like saints and I wouldn't fault anyone for failing to be one. As long as they don't claim they are.
And on the subject of generics, although they are not very profitable, there is a tiny bit of profit to be sqeezed out of them. Don't try to pass it as a purely altruistic move, if his company didn't manifacture the drugs, someone else would have.
I don't care. My criticism is aimed squarely at the BBC.
What a ridiculous strawman. I did not advocate for taking anything from the rich and I do happen advocate for state-managed welfare system. Not that any of this is relevant.
Uuuhh.... wut? Sounds like you are projecting something there, nothing I said was mockery, nor even particularly pertinent to the person in question. I would have made a similar comment had the BBC published an equally stupid statement about someone who was/is piss-poor.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 17 2017, @06:31PM
I'm not really sure what to think of this, Canadian and a generics provider?
I can think of some American pharmaceutical, health care, and health insurance providers that should wind up like this or worse. With how many people are getting fucked out of their health insurance this year, I fully expect some of the more desperate to respond in kind.
(Score: 2) by crafoo on Monday December 18 2017, @04:40AM
Manufactures generics .. get's murdered.
Tough nut to crack. Who could it possibly be? Those actually to blame are immune to the rule of law.