His early release reflects good behavior and completion of rehabilitation programs
Infamous ex-pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli has been released from federal prison after serving less than five years of a seven-year sentence for a securities and wire fraud conviction. He is now moving into a US Bureau of Prisons halfway house at an undisclosed location in New York until September 14, 2022.
Shkreli was convicted in August 2017 on two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud in connection to what federal prosecutors called a Ponzi-like scheme involving two hedge funds Shkreli managed. In March 2018, a federal judge sentenced him to seven years, which he was serving in minimum security federal prison in Allenwood, Pennsylvania.
His early release—slightly more than four years after his sentencing—reflects time shaved off for good behavior in prison, plus completion of education and rehabilitation programs, according to CNBC. It also includes a credit for the roughly six months he spent in jail prior to his sentencing.
Previously on SoylentNews:
United States Sells Unique Wu-Tang Clan Album Forfeited by Martin Shkreli
Judge Denies Shkreli's "Delusional Self-Aggrandizing" Plea to Get Out of Jail
Shkreli Stays in Jail; Infamous Ex-Pharma CEO Quickly Loses Appeal
Martin Shkreli Accused of Running Business From Prison With a Smuggled Smartphone
Sobbing Martin Shkreli Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Defrauding Investors
Britain Fines Pfizer Record £84.2m for 2600% Drug Price Hike
Daraprim Price Lowered in Response to Outrage
Cost of Daraprim Medication Raised by Over 50 Times
Related Stories
Medicine that costs $1 to make raised in price from $13.50 to $750.00
The head of a US pharmaceutical company has defended his company's decision to raise the price of a 62-year-old medication used by Aids patients by over 5,000%. Turing Pharmaceuticals acquired the rights to Daraprim in August.
CEO Martin Shkreli has said that the company will use the money it makes from sales to research new treatments. The drug is used treat toxoplasmosis, a parasitic affliction that affects people with compromised immune systems.
After Turning's acquisition, a dose of Daraprim in the US increased from $13.50 (£8.70) to $750. The pill costs about $1 to produce, but Mr Shkreli, a former hedge fund manager, said that does not include other costs like marketing and distribution.
Cost of Daraprim Medication Raised By Over 50 Times
BBC is reporting on a massive price hike of an essential drug used by AIDS patients:
The head of a US pharmaceutical company has defended his company's decision to raise the price of a 62-year-old medication used by Aids patients by over 5,000%. Turing Pharmaceuticals acquired the rights to Daraprim in August. CEO Martin Shkreli has said that the company will use the money it makes from sales to research new treatments.
The drug is used treat toxoplasmosis, a parasitic affliction that affects people with compromised immune systems. After Turning's acquisition, a dose of Daraprim in the US increased from $13.50 (£8.70) to $750. The pill costs about $1 to produce, but Mr Shkreli, a former hedge fund manager, said that does not include other costs like marketing and distribution. "We needed to turn a profit on this drug," Mr Shkreli told Bloomberg TV. "The companies before us were just giving it away almost." On Twitter, Mr Shkreli mocked several users who questioned the company's decision, calling one reporter "a moron".
Why not switch to a generic pyrimethamine tablet? They don't exist right now, according to the New York Times (story includes examples of other recent price hikes):
With the price now high, other companies could conceivably make generic copies, since patents have long expired. One factor that could discourage that option is that Daraprim's distribution is now tightly controlled, making it harder for generic companies to get the samples they need for the required testing.
The switch from drugstores to controlled distribution was made in June by Impax, not by Turing. Still, controlled distribution was a strategy Mr. Shkreli talked about at his previous company as a way to thwart generics.
The drug is also used to treat malaria and appears on the World Health Organization Model List of Essential Medicines. Toxoplasmosis infections are a feline gift to the world.
Well, that didn't take long at all. Drug CEO Will Lower Price of Daraprim After Hike Sparked Outrage.
Daraprim was previously discussed on SoylentNews today.
I'd still like to see a good generic alternative become available so that this can't happen again.
takyon: Also at BBC. Martin Shkreli has not said how much the price will be cut, and is planning to make his Twitter account private, according to NBC. Daraprim's chemical name is Pyrimethamine, aka 5-(4-Chlorophenyl)-6-(diethoxymethyl)-2,4-pyrimidinediamine.
Reuters reports on a record 84 million pound fine (about $107 million) for its role in raising the cost of a generic epilepsy drug by up to 2600%:
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also fined Flynn Pharma 5.2 million pounds for overcharging for phenytoin sodium capsules, following a dramatic price hike in 2012. The CMA's ruling comes amid a growing debate on both sides of the Atlantic about the ethics of price hikes for old off-patent medicines that are only made by a few firms and where there is little competition. U.S. drugmaker Turing Pharmaceuticals, led at the time by hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli, caused outrage last year by raising the U.S. price of Daraprim, an old anti-infective drug, by more than 5,000 percent to $750 a pill.
[...] Pfizer used to market the medicine under the brand name Epanutin but sold the rights to Flynn, a privately owned British company, in September 2012. It was then debranded, meaning that it was no longer subject to price regulation, and the price soared. "The companies deliberately exploited the opportunity offered by debranding to hike up the price for a drug which is relied upon by many thousands of patients," Philip Marsden, chairman of the CMA's case decision group, said on Wednesday. "This is the highest fine the CMA has imposed and it sends out a clear message to the sector that we are determined to crack down on such behavior."
So, ironically, by turning the drug into a "generic" under UK regulations, they were able to jack the price up to extreme levels. Pfizer plans to appeal the ruling. The Guardian has further details:
Pfizer defended its actions, saying the drugs were loss-making before they were debranded and distributed through Flynn Pharma. It also argued that the price was less than that of the equivalent medicine from another supplier to the NHS.
A spokesman for the CMA said Pfizer recouped its losses on the medication within two months, adding that the price of other drugs did not permit the companies fined to charge "excessive and unfair prices".
One thing I wonder about such fines is whether they can possibly be effective. Even if they manage to hurt a pharmaceutical company's bottom line in the UK a bit, without some sort of international standard regulation of drug pricing, won't they just pass any costs of litigation onto consumers in the U.S. or somewhere else by hiking the price on this or other drugs even more?
It's 7 Years in Prison for Martin Shkreli, Convicted of Fraud
A federal judge sentenced former pharmaceutical executive and hedge-fund manager Martin Shkreli to seven years in prison Friday following his earlier conviction on three of eight counts of securities and wire fraud charges.
According to reporters present in the Brooklyn courtroom, Shkreli gave an emotional and tearful speech prior to his sentencing, taking blame and responsibility for his actions and saying he had changed as a person since his conviction. US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto reportedly handed him a box of tissues and took a lengthy amount of time reviewing his transgressions and history.
The sentencing caps a long, public saga for Shkreli, who is widely reviled for drastically raising the price of a cheap, decades-old drug, as well as provocative and offensive online antics, including harassing women.
Obligatory Nelson HaHa
Source: ArsTechnica
Sobbing "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Defrauding Investors
KSWB-TV reports
He was convicted on August 5, 2017 of securities fraud and conspiracy in what prosecutors said amounted to a Ponzi scheme. Shkreli called the charges "a witch hunt of epic proportions".
During his sentencing on Friday in Brooklyn federal court, Shkreli, 34, broke into tears and pleaded with the judge for leniency.
"I look back and I'm embarrassed and ashamed", he told the court. "I am terribly sorry", he said to his investors, "I lost your trust."
At his trial last year, Shkreli often wore a smirk and was chastised by the judge for his behavior, including for an incident in which he told reporters that the prosecutors on the case were "junior varsity". He also ignored the advice of his lawyer by commenting on the trial via social media and YouTube.
More coverage from:
Martin Shkreli continues to run business from prison, report says
Martin Shkreli reportedly runs his pharmaceutical company from prison on a contraband smartphone. Shkreli continues to run the remains of the drug company that once earned him the title of most hated man in America, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal. He was convicted of securities fraud and conspiracy in 2017. He has served 16 months of a seven-year sentence in federal prison.
Shkreli is reportedly running Phoenixus AG, formerly known as Turing Pharmaceuticals. In 2015, when Shkreli was the CEO, Turing raised the price of the lifesaving drug Daraprim used by AIDS patients from $13.50 a pill to $750 a pill. The price hike sparked a public outcry.
The Journal says that Shkreli anticipates the company will grow more successful while he's in prison. He believes the company, of which he owns 40%, could be worth $3.7 billion by the time he gets out of prison.
On one recent phone call, Shkreli fired Phoenixus CEO Kevin Mulleady, the Journal reported. Shkreli reportedly later changed his mind, agreeing to suspend Mulleady rather than fire him.
Cartoon villain performance art.
Previously: Martin Shkreli Points Fingers at Other Pharmaceutical Companies
Martin Shkreli Convicted of Securities Fraud Charges, Optimistic About Sentencing
Martin Shkreli Lists Unreleased Wu-Tang Clan Album on eBay
Martin Shkreli's $5 Million Bail Revoked for Facebook Post Seeking Hillary Clinton's Hair
Sobbing Martin Shkreli Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Defrauding Investors
Related: Drug Firm Offers $1 Version of $750 Turing Pharmaceuticals Pill
Mylan Overcharged U.S. Government on EpiPens
EpiPen Maker is Facing Shareholder Backlash
FDA Has Named Names of Pharma Companies Blocking Cheaper Generics [Updated]
U.S. Hospitals Band Together to Form Civica Rx, a Non-Profit Pharmaceutical Company
Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984
Shkreli stays in jail; Infamous ex-pharma CEO quickly loses appeal
In a swift 3-0 vote Thursday, a panel of judges in a New York federal appeals court upheld the August 2017 conviction of Martin Shkreli. The infamous ex-pharmaceutical CEO is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence for fraud stemming from what prosecutors had described as a Ponzi-like scheme.
Shkreli, 36, must continue to serve his sentence and also still forfeit more than $7.3 million in assets, the judges affirmed.
The judges' ruling came just three weeks after hearing arguments in the appeal—rather than the normal period of months, Bloomberg notes. The ruling was also an unusually short seven pages.
In it, the panel rejected Shkreli's argument that the judge in his trial, US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto, confused jurors with the wording of some of their instructions on how to deliberate the case.
"The instruction given here correctly stated the law," the panel said in its decision. "As such, we disagree with Shkreli that exclusion of additional language describing an element not required for the charged crime constituted a prejudicial error."
Judge denies Shkreli's "delusional self-aggrandizing" plea to get out of jail
A federal judge on Saturday denied Martin Shkreli's request for a "compassionate release" from prison, which was pitched as a way to protect him from contracting the new coronavirus—and to help him work on a cure for COVID-19 so he could save the rest of the world.
Lawyers for the infamous ex-pharmaceutical executive filed an emergency motion April 22 in a bid to free him from the slammer. They argued that Shkreli is at high risk of contracting the virus in the close quarters of federal prison and could possibly become severely ill or die. They also argued that he is in a unique position to work on a cure for the devastating viral illness now sweeping the globe. Shkreli himself publicly made that claim in early April via a scientific document outlining his preliminary efforts to develop an antiviral drug.
In the emergency motion, his lawyers argued that "Current conditions of confinement threaten his health and life and prevent him from doing work that would contribute to the betterment of society worldwide."
Though Shkreli is best known for ruthlessly jacking up the price of a lifesaving generic drug, he is serving an 84-month sentence following his 2017 conviction on two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiring to commit securities fraud. The charges were in connection with an alleged Ponzi-like scheme involving two hedge funds he previously managed and his former pharmaceutical company, Retrophin. He has served 41 months of his sentence so far.
[...] [federal prosecutors] also noted that, at the time of their court filing, there were no cases of COVID-19 in staff or inmates at the facility in which Shkreli is being held, FCI Allenwood Low.
This comes straight from The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
United States Sells Unique Wu-Tang Clan Album Forfeited by Convicted Hedge Fund Manager Martin Shkreli
Defendant Forfeited His Interest in the Album, "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin," Following Conviction for Engaging in Securities Fraud Schemes
Proceeds from the Sale Will be Applied to Forfeiture Money Judgment Against Shkreli
United States Sells Unique Wu-Tang Clan Album Forfeited by Convicted Hedge Fund Manager Martin Shkreli
Earlier today, the United States sold the sole copy of the Wu-Tang Clan album "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" (the "Album") which had previously been ordered to be forfeited as a substitute asset in connection with the approximately $7.4 million forfeiture money judgment (Forfeiture Money Judgment) entered against Shkreli at his March 2018 sentencing. Proceeds from the sale of the Album will be applied to satisfy the outstanding balance owed on the Forfeiture Money Judgment. The contract of sale contains a confidentiality provision that protects information relating to the buyer and price.
I'm sure after this, Martin Shkreli will have learned his lesson.
"Through the diligent and persistent efforts of this Office and its law enforcement partners, Shkreli has been held accountable and paid the price for lying and stealing from investors to enrich himself. With today's sale of this one-of-a-kind album, his payment of the forfeiture is now complete," stated Acting U.S. Attorney Kasulis.
I'm sure they can let Martin Shkreli go free now.
See also:
More about Martin Shkreli
Previous coverage on SoylentNews.
In an effort to avoid being held in contempt of court, former pharmaceutical executive and convicted fraudster Martin Shkreli made an eyebrow-raising argument to a federal judge Friday, stating that his company Druglike, which he previously described as a "drug discovery software platform," was not engaged in drug discovery. As such, he argued he is not in violation of his sweeping lifetime ban from the pharmaceutical industry.
Last month, the Federal Trade Commission and seven states urged a federal judge in New York to hold Shkreli in contempt for allegedly failing to cooperate with an investigation into whether he violated the ban. The FTC said Shkreli failed to turn over requested documents related to Druglike and sit for an interview on the matter.
In the filing Friday, Shkreli claims that he responded to the FTC's requests "promptly and in good faith."
Previously:
FTC: Shkreli May Have Violated Lifetime Pharma Ban, Should be Held in Contempt
Martin Shkreli Launches Blockchain-Based Drug Discovery Platform
Shkreli Released From Prison to Halfway House After Serving <5 of 7 Years
Martin Shkreli Accused of Running Business From Prison With a Smuggled Smartphone
Sobbing Martin Shkreli Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Defrauding Investors
Martin Shkreli's $5 Million Bail Revoked for Facebook Post Seeking Hillary Clinton's Hair
Martin Shkreli Lists Unreleased Wu-Tang Clan Album on eBay
Martin Shkreli Convicted of Securities Fraud Charges, Optimistic About Sentencing
Martin Shkreli Points Fingers at Other Pharmaceutical Companies
Related:
"Pure and Deadly Greed": Lawmakers Slam Pfizer's 400% Price Hike on COVID Shots
U.S. Hospitals Band Together to Form Civica Rx, a Non-Profit Pharmaceutical Company
FDA Has Named Names of Pharma Companies Blocking Cheaper Generics [Updated]
EpiPen Maker is Facing Shareholder Backlash
Mylan Overcharged U.S. Government on EpiPens
Drug Firm Offers $1 Version of $750 Turing Pharmaceuticals Pill
A cancer treatment has shown astounding results in a small clinical trial. All of the treated patients, who had a specific form of mid-stage rectal cancer, have since experienced complete remission. Though the findings are based on a sample size of just 18 people, they could hold important implications for treating these particular cancers.
The trial enrolled volunteers diagnosed with stage II or III rectal cancer, meaning their tumors had begun to grow larger and spread to nearby parts of the body. Their cancer was also determined to be caused by a particular mechanism known as a deficiency in mismatch repair.
The researchers theorized that their treatment, a lab-made antibody called dostarlimab, might be able to help this subset of patients. It works by inhibiting a protein known as programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) found in many cancer cells. This inhibition then allows the immune system to recognize the cancer cells as harmful and target them for destruction. [...]
That said, the findings are still very early, and it will take much more research with larger-sized studies to confirm the drug's effectiveness, especially over the long term. [...] And the drug doesn't come cheap, costing $11,000 per dose out of pocket.
At $11,000/pill, from some halfway house in an undisclosed location, Pharma Bro smiles with approval.
Journal Reference:
Andrea Cercek et al., PD-1 Blockade in Mismatch Repair–Deficient, Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer, NEJM, 2022. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2201445
The legal saga over Martin Shkreli's infamous 5,000 percent price hike of a life-saving anti-parasitic drug has ended with a flat denial from the highest court in the land.
On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected Shkreli's petition to appeal an order to return $64.6 million in profits from the pricing scheme of Daraprim, a decades-old drug used to treat toxoplasmosis. The condition is caused by a single-celled parasite that can be deadly for newborns and people with compromised immune systems, such as people who have HIV, cancer, or an organ transplant.
[...]
In a lawsuit filed in 2021, the Federal Trade Commission and seven state attorneys general accused Shkreli of building a "web of anticompetitive restrictions to box out the competition." In January of 2022, US District Court Judge Denise Cote agreed, finding that Shkreli's conduct was "egregious, deliberate, repetitive, long-running, and ultimately dangerous."Cotes banned Shkreli from the pharmaceutical industry for life and found him liable for $64.6 million in disgorgement. In January 2024, an appeals court upheld Cote's ruling.
[...]
Shkreli's lawyer filed a petition with the Supreme Court arguing that the ill-gotten profits from Daraprim's price hike went to corporate entities, not Shkreli personally, and that federal courts had issued conflicting rulings on disgorgement liabilities.In a list of orders today, the Supreme Court announced it denied Shkreli's petition to hear his appeal. The justices offered no explanation and no dissents were noted.
The denial is Shkreli's second rejection from the Supreme Court.
Previously on SoylentNews: SoylentNews Stories on Shkreli (Search Link)
Infamous Pharma Company Founded by Shkreli Files for Bankruptcy, Blames Shkreli - 20230514
Shkreli Released From Prison to Halfway House After Serving - 20220522
Judge Denies Shkreli's "Delusional Self-Aggrandizing" Plea to Get Out of Jail - 20200519
Sobbing Martin Shkreli Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Defrauding Investors - 20180310
FBI Arrests Shkreli of the Drug Price Hike Fame - 20151217 (That didn't take him long.)
Cost of Daraprim Medication Raised by Over 50 Times - 20150922
(Score: 5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 24 2022, @02:27AM (1 child)
Maybe he teams up with Elizabeth Holmes for Act 2?
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday May 24 2022, @05:58PM
I will definitely watch that Netflix documentary. And Hulu documentary. And Peacock... and Universal... and the dramatized version on HBO!
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Revek on Tuesday May 24 2022, @03:12AM (17 children)
Nah, he just did whatever he could to get out of there. If that meant being a well behaved human being I'm sure he could fake it.
This page was generated by a Swarm of Roaming Elephants
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday May 24 2022, @03:27AM (3 children)
Unfortunately, that's what a lot of prisoners do. They can be model prisoners, for a year or ten. Just suck up to the guards, and never let on how much you hate them.
Sure, there are people who really do reform themselves in prison. But, I'm cynical for a reason. The prisoner who leaves prison actually reformed is the exception, rather than the rule.
Shkrelli? Dude has zero morals, zero empathy, zero compassion. Given the opportunity, he would corner the market on another life saving substance, and jack the price up 1000% or more. He would most definitely watch people dying around him, so long as he makes a profit. Let's hope he doesn't get into the baby formula market - things will only get worse than they are already.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Ironrose on Tuesday May 24 2022, @06:31AM
This is how Runaway got out. They never suspected that he was actually guilty of killing those 50 million liberals.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Thexalon on Tuesday May 24 2022, @11:09AM
I mean, if I were on somebody's cell block, I'd rather they be focused on sucking up to the guards than shanking me to establish a place in a hierarchy, so if that's what he's up to that's OK really.
But I really really hope that he's not allowed to buy his way into a position of importance ever again. Unfortunately, so far it seems convicted white-collar crooks don't get the same kind of permanent stigma that other kinds of crooks do, even if the white-collar crooks stole a lot more money, as demonstrated by Martha Stewart recently hitting the late-night circuit.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday May 24 2022, @06:01PM
Well he has been banned from pharma and running companies as part of his sentence so hopefully that will mitigate the damage he can do. [biospace.com]
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday May 24 2022, @03:55AM (8 children)
"Well behaved" is behavior not what's going on in your head. My bet is that he didn't fake that behavior a bit. He can still be a slimy human being that happens to behave well around others. That's a win in my book.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 24 2022, @04:25AM (6 children)
You should publish that book soon. It's probably as good reading as that asshole's manifest who shot up Buffalo. Or the other asshole who shot up Christchurch.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 24 2022, @04:32AM (5 children)
Come on. Cheap shots are one thing, but is that really necessary? Khallow has not, as far as I know, shot up any place nor shown any sign of it. In fact, I can't recall him ever suggesting that doing so would be a good idea, nor that a race war would be smart.
But I can tell you're a dipshit on the strength of that post.
(Score: 4, Touché) by sgleysti on Tuesday May 24 2022, @04:59AM
From one paragon of civil discourse to another, I suppose.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 24 2022, @06:38AM (2 children)
But to riff of a meme of Glenn Beck, can he prove he never raped and killed a young girl between California and Yellowstone, in 1995?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday May 24 2022, @11:21AM (1 child)
Prison isn't about making nice people. It's about curbing bad behavior. Shkreli may well go back to what he did before. But at least, he'll know what several years of prison feels like and he'll risk more prison time, if he goes back to what he did before.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 24 2022, @04:44PM
Shkreli has a cult following that will scrutinize his every movement and rat him out instantly if he steps out of line. He went from being a CEO to being infamous.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 24 2022, @05:10PM
The worst things khallow has done is defend Trump at all times, and pretend Dear Leadder did not order an insurrection to overthrow the 2020 election. Of coyrse that does make him statistically more likely to become a shooter, but I haven't seen any inclination towards violence unlike with Runaway1956.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 24 2022, @12:11PM
If nothing else, that picture of him shows what looks like an actual smile, not the condescending smirk he was so very famous for.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by driverless on Tuesday May 24 2022, @10:53AM (3 children)
From reading details of his life it sounds a lot like he has a sociopathic/psychopathic personality, which means he'd do a perfect job of faking being a model prisoner just as he's mostly been able to fake being a human being well enough to get by so far. So it doesn't surprise me at all that he got out early.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday May 24 2022, @02:37PM (2 children)
Psychopaths are unable to emphasize or feel or understand how others feel. They don't mind hurting people at all. They know they are doing so, but unlike the rest of us, they have no empathy for the suffering they can inflict. They learn that their basest behavior will not be tolerated at any age in their life or any part of society. So they learn to hide in plain sight. They learn to pretend they have emotions or sympathy or that they can relate to how others feel. In reality they only ever care about themselves. They only pretend to ever care about anyone else. Anyone around them is fair game to betray or throw under the bus. Spouses, children, coworkers, anyone.
Psychopaths are ideally suited to succeed in business right up to the C suite level. Or even President of the United States.
From what I (mis)understand? sociopaths are similar but with one difference. Psychopaths are born that way. Sociopaths become that way -- eg, they are made.
Any corrections of what I've stated are welcome.
The Centauri traded Earth jump gate technology in exchange for our superior hair mousse formulas.
(Score: 5, Informative) by driverless on Tuesday May 24 2022, @02:58PM (1 child)
Not right but not wrong either, clinically the terms psychopath and sociopath aren't really used, what you get instead is a diagnosis of one of the cluster B personality disorders (borderline, antisocial, histrionic, and narcisstic) and some scoring on a diagnostic scale, usually the PCL-R. It's not nearly as clear-cut as that but that's a good enough approximation. The popular terms "sociopath" and "psychopath" are usually applied to people with a lower or higher PCL-R diagnostic score. Nature vs. nurture is a complex debate, it's probably about 50% nature and 50% nurture, in that twins with psychopathic tendencies raised separately have shown or not shown the traits depending on how they were raised. You also get high-functioning whatever-paths who live a fairly normal life and may not even be aware that they're that different until it's pointed out to them.
That's a really, really condensed version...
It's also interesting being able to spot them. For example what's the best depiction Hollywood has ever done of a true psychopath? It's not Hannibal Lecter, who has a very few of the traits but otherwise is pure Hollywood fiction. It's the Wolf of Wall Street, that movie's so effective I'd set it as a tutorial assignment to spot all the behavioral traits. What's depicted in that film is so clearly a psychopath that when they got to the bit at the end where they said he'd reformed I couldn't believe it, a leopard is literally more likely to change his spots than a psychopath their behaviour. Googled what he'd been up to since his release and sure enough, he'd fooled them yet again.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by bloodnok on Tuesday May 24 2022, @05:54PM
Being able to spot psychopaths is certainly a useful skill. I had a boss that I'm pretty sure was a psychopath. Trouble was, his behaviour was not that far removed from a whole load of other asshole bosses we'd had before. It was only after I left and looked into it that I realised that the grandiose plans, the extreme skill at lying, the conniving, and so on were actually tell-tale signs. We all thought at the time though, that we was no more than just a bigger asshole.
Having been through it, the one thing I learned was that the best thing you can do with a psychopath is to run away (you won't outmanoeuvre them, and you will likely suffer in some way even if you just keep your head down). By that time in my career I had no tolerance for assholery so I quit before things came to a head. Looking back, it seems to me that I was being set up to be one of the fall guys for his inevitable failure which may be why he actually seemed unhappy to see me go.
__
The major