Comments
Transcript
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CBPlease give Marc a weekly show. More education on the frauds are needed.
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MCSame the world over the financial regulator has NO TEETH, full of people who are too frightened to come down on one side of fence of the other. Transpose that to ANY Country you like...
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jSWhere is this sad saga at Grant? Is Mark getting any closer to closing this out? Hats off to Mark. Great effort! Long live short sellers
GRANT WILLIAMS: These are bold claims. And there will be people watching this say, well, you could say all that, and that could be a big stack of blank paper. I can vouch for the fact that I've looked through it all. It is not blank. This is all unbelievable evidence of this stuff. But tell me about what you've uncovered in terms of Freedom of Information Act requests, because you can piece this stuff together pretty accurately from what you've uncovered.
MARC COHODES: Yeah, well through FOIA- people did a FOIA request on Isakson and Parker Petit, and MiMedx, and didn't get much. But they did get was that Isakson was constantly asking for who was putting in a request of FOIAs on Pete and MiMedx. But then someone FOIAed me, my name with Parker, and MiMedx, and things like that, and FBI. And they got a whole stack of documents that Isakson's pushed to the FBI. Began a day or so after the Grant's conference, and before I made any so-called tweets.
And he was nonstopping to the FBI about this. Now, it's heavily redacted. And my lawyer has gone back and we've made a FOIA appeal. We've written a very strong letter to the Senate Ethics Committee about Isakson, and my lawyer, Shapiro, sent Isakson a personal letter. Basically saying, we demand, and we're looking into suing you. And we have grounds to sue you for violating my civil rights. So, we need you to turn over all information- letters, et cetera- with Pete Petit, Marc Cohodes, MiMedx, et cetera.
So, if you're a 80-year-old senator from Georgia, who by the way, has Parkinson's disease, which I wouldn't wish on anybody- and Senator, hopefully you're watching this at some point- my message to you is simply, Parker Petit is not worth ruining your career or your legacy over. You made a huge mistake in ginning up the FBI on me. If you apologize to me, and my wife, and my son, and make it right, whatever right is, because I still suffer from this, and turn over all information that you have on Pete, I'll let it go. I'll look the other way. He's not worth you ruining what you have left of your career and your reputation for.
But if you want to keep covering up for him, and public safety, and what you're doing to the veterans, forcing this shit medicine on them, God knows where it ends. Because you've made a mistake. Don't compound the mistake for covering for this guy. Because you say, how is this allowed to go on. Well, did it quash Pete's SEC investigation back for insider trading years ago, or Matria, or other things Pete's done? Or the FDA, or the VA? Pete freely admits that he goes to Isakson all the time for these issues.
And in the FDA letter, Pete employs and implores Isakson, who's looked out for him. And it's in the letter. And why is Isakson messing around with the FDA? It's in a letter dated February 26th, 2016 to Robert Califf and the commissioner of the US FDA. And Pete's basically bitching, and pissing, and moaning to the FDA for giving him a hard time, and saying he has great safety records. But somewhere in here, he employs the senator. And this part to me is quite troubling, because I think it's out of his jurisdiction.
It says, our request for review is rather lengthy, but this ordeal has been lengthy. Some of the issues that develop during this two and a half year period since the issuance of the untitled letter required us to seek congressional advice. I know that you've had conversations in the Health Committee, confirmation hearings with Senator Isakson and Alexander, relative to the use of the untitled letters, and the attempt to change regulations, using guidance developments. I'm afraid that MiMedx has become the poster child for adverse consequences related to the agency's use of those types of documents relative to human tissue, specifically amniotic membrane allographs.
Well, if Isakson is involved with the FDA, with MiMedx, he's involved with the FBI, with me. He's involved with the VA in using these bogus products. He's involved in the VA for paying for these bogus products, I think the world needs to hear from Isakson. It's time that Isakson come clean on what he's done, because I said before Grant, this bullshit has to stop. I have great respect for the rules and laws of the country. I pay my taxes. I've never been charged with a crime, committed a crime. I'm just a guy who speaks his mind.
Granted, people don't like what I say all the time, because it shines a light on evil doers. But this senator needs to be called out, and this shit has to stop. Because if it doesn't stop, where does it stop? Where does it stop? And the Journal wrote a piece with the FOIA information calling out Isakson. The Atlanta Journal Constitution has written about it. And if people think this issue just dies because Isakson won't say anything, that's a bad bet. Because I'm not stopping.
And if Isakson is coercing the FDA to look the other way, something's very wrong, and people will be held responsible. So, I hope the FDA watches this. You haven't responded to any of my letters that I've written to you, or I've documented exactly what's going on. You guys can use these as an exhibit. Here's the May 25th letter, and it goes into great detail of exactly what's wrong, and why it's wrong. And I don't, or my lawyer doesn't even as much get a wink back with this.
But just because I'm ignored doesn't mean I stop. I won't stop. And you've seen my body of evidence. And I'm getting more information by the day in on MiMedx. And this poison they sell not less. So, the company has lied about adverse events. The company has lied about covering up 483s. They haven't fixed the 483s. They're illegally marketing the product saying that it does things that there's no proof that it does. And the FDA just sits there. They just sit there.
GRANT WILLIAMS: What's immensely troubling to me, amongst many troubling aspects of this whole thing, is the fact that you have just about every government agency in the country- the SEC, you got the DOJ, you got the FDA.
MARC COHODES: The VA.
GRANT WILLIAMS: The VA.
MARC COHODES: The DOD.
GRANT WILLIAMS: You've documented so clearly- and I've seen it. You've shown me all this evidence, I've gone through it. The fact that nothing's been done about this is extraordinary to me, because this isn't- let's take short sellers and all that nonsense out of the way. This is public health. This is public safety. And that's the thing I can't get my head around, in terms of either how high up this must go, or how broad it must be for everybody to do nothing.
MARC COHODES: Well, see, that's the crazy part of this whole thing. In all my correspondence with everybody- so no one claims that I'm not a full disclosure guy- I say, I am a short seller. I am short the stock.
GRANT WILLIAMS: But do you think they read that and go, he's one of those guys, ignore it.
MARC COHODES: Possibly. Possibly. Hopefully not. But there have been books written about me. And there have been Harvard Business cases written about me. So if you Google my name, there's plenty of things that I've done that just aren't trollable events. There's plenty of things I've done. In Gretchen's book, Reckless Endangerment, when I exposed NovaStar, and the government did nothing- did nothing- I said, I think, on the last page, that if something like this comes out again, the lesson I learned from it is speak louder, and speak stronger.
And if I'm going to cock it, I'm going to throw it. There's no fake with me. And I've cocked it, and I'm throwing it on MiMedx. And if people, if Gottlieb, or Mary Malarkey, the SEC, DOJ, DOD- if they all want to ignore me, ignore me at your own risk and your own peril. Because you will be held responsible for this not by me, but by the public, and by your peers. Because what I've said about this is very clear. It's on PetitParkertheBarker.com. We've done episodes, I've spoken about it, I've done Periscopes, I've written letters. I've dropped over a couple 100,000 just on lawyers, and I haven't even been sued.
And I'm not asking anyone back for it. I've been hassled by the federal government. I've been told to shut up. If people think that Erin Brockovich was a story, that's like watching Dumbo the Lion compared to some of the stuff that I've been through with this thing. The person who deserves a lot of credit, who I reached out to, and they actually acted, is Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas.
GRANT WILLIAMS: I was just about to bring that up.
MARC COHODES: So not everyone has been sleeping at the switch. The guy who runs Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, Dr. Dan, is a fine American and human being. And he took my stuff seriously. And Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas stopped reimbursing for this bullshit amnio-
GRANT WILLIAMS: Tell us that story. Let's understand how if someone takes you seriously, what does that conversation look like?
MARC COHODES: He either saw me on Twitter, or I direct messaged him, or emailed them. Blue Cross Blue Shield is some shit ass bureaucracy because I reached out to someone who knew them, and I said, how do I get a hold of Dr. Dan? They said, here's his email, which is probably filtered. I said, but what if I want to call him. They said, here's the number. And the number gets you in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas phone tree. And I think I have a better chance of winning the lottery than getting a hold of someone specifically in Texas.
I literally spent an hour and 40 minutes trying to get a hold of them by phone. So, I then Twitter direct messaged him. I then messaged someone who knew him. I then emailed someone who knew him. And eventually, we talked. And it was a listen only conversation. And it was essentially, I'm calling as a citizen about MiMedx. Your company is getting grossly ripped off by these clowns, and here's why. Just so you know, I'm short MiMedx stock. So I don't want you to think that if the company goes away, I don't financially benefit. But that's not the reason for my call.
And he heard me out. He saw my evidence. I sent him some MiMedx documents that I have. How MiMedx insurance people, I think a lady named Cytherea, puts in emails, how to trick fuck the system. How to trick fuck the coding. How to rip off Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. And this, when it's said and done, I will save that system probably tens of millions of dollars if this was allowed to go on. And it keeps going on, and going on, going on.
But any health care company that wants to run a straight ship should hire a Dr. Dan to run the company, because he is a God-fearing honest guy who knows right from wrong. So he did act. He did say, we're no longer covering this crap. And I suggested to him that they audit all of their MiMedx payments and try to claw back from these doctors. Because what would go on is you'd come in for whatever ailment, and you and Aurora own a distribution company. And MiMedx makes an end of the quarter deal with you for amnio fixed injectable.
They say, G and A, Grant and Aurora, a vial of amnio fixed injectable is normally $5,000 a vial. It's $10,000 for the super big vial. If you pay us cash, we'll sell you $100,000 worth of product for $45,000. And for this amount of product, you can probably bill 6, 7, $800,000 of stuff-
GRANT WILLIAMS: To your insurance company.
MARC COHODES: Sure. Knee injections, scalp injections. And here's how you code it. You code it breakthrough blah, blah, blah for this, that or the other. And if you submit it for $20,000, they'll probably only pay you 50%. But if they only pay you 50%, you tell the customer, insurance only. Whatever we get back from the insurance company, you don't have to pay anything more, so why wouldn't you do this procedure? If Aurora needs some procedure done, and the doc says, hey, if you take this injection for your knee, insurance covers it.
Aurora never sees the bill. It goes right to the insurance company. It goes right to the insurance company for $18,900. Some for anesthesia, some for wound care dressing, some for an X-ray, amnio fixed injectable, sight management, this, that, and the other. Aurora doesn't see the bill, where I say what the fuck is this, are you crazy? No, it goes right to insurance. Insurance pays the doctor, I never see a bill. Everyone wins. MiMedx wins. Guy who sells the shit wins. The doc wins. And Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas loses.
And what does Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas do? They raise people's rates because they lose, and then everyone complains about health care. Now again, I don't want to portray myself as a saint, and I don't want to portray myself as a Mr. Fix It. I'm a rifleman on MiMedx, and they're trick fucking the system huge. Are others doing it? Probably. But my focus is on that low life motherfucker, Parker Petit, and what he has done to me, my family, and others by trying to silence them. Which needs to stop.
And if he's made an example of, an Isakson's made an example of, and Tom Price is made an example of how they screw the system, screw employees, and others, then my job's done. Then I will have accomplished what I want to accomplish. I'm not a politician. I'm not into any of that stuff. I don't talk about the stock market, I don't talk about politics, I don't talk about religion. But this is an example- this is just one example with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, of one guy doing something right. The SEC, DOJ, FDA, VA, DOD- they've all dropped the ball.
Now hopefully, when the government gets back to work, things happen, and we can have the Parker Petit prison party when he gets arrested, which I think will happen. But it's a battle. And as you said, why haven't people done it? I don't know, but I can't allow that to frustrate me to the point of enaction. I have to keep the train rolling. I can't tell the SEC what to do. They don't call me and say, what should we do. It's thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. They don't ignore me, but then no one's asking, no one's given me the heads up of what they're about to do.
GRANT WILLIAMS: To me, it seems so straightforward here. When you get presented with all this evidence, at the very least, you say, right, everybody, stop. Stop what you're doing. Stop selling that, stop doing this, stop doing that. We're going to look into this, and we're going to subpoena all the parties. It seems very straightforward to me, which is why I'm astounded at how hard you've had to fight. When you have so much on this stuff.
As I said before, how high up this must go, how broad it must be. When you think about fraudulent companies, and you think about Madoff, right? Great example, Madoff. It was financial, so you didn't have the kind of complex web of people into it. It was one guy and a guy in the backroom cooking the books. But I remember what Harry Markopolos had to go through to get that looked at. And of course, when finally, somebody did, it's, holy shit. I'm astonished.
MARC COHODES: But with him, they portrayed him as a kook. They portrayed Harry as a kook. They portrayed Madoff as this great guy. He was the chairman of NASDAQ. A establishment guy. And this fucking kook just kept harping, and harping, harping. It's the shoot the messenger and ignore the message. And being a short seller or short the stock casts you through the public perception as an identity that's just not the case.
GRANT WILLIAMS: But why wouldn't you at this point, just say, okay, I'm going to very publicly, and very noisily cover my short? And then I'm going to go back to all these guys, and say, listen, I'm out of this. I have no dog in the hunt, except trying to do what's right.
MARC COHODES: I could theoretically do that. I'm just not in the mood right now to pay taxes on my gains.
GRANT WILLIAMS: Right. Okay.
MARC COHODES: Okay. So hopefully, I don't have portfolio losses this year. But I'm not in the mood of paying on short term gains on MiMedx when I still think it has plenty to go. Have I covered some? Yeah, sure, I've covered some. I've covered plenty. I'm not short that much. But that doesn't matter. But the fight that I have, and what people don't acknowledge to this day- I mean, you do, and some informed people do, is I've been right. I've been right. And everything that I predicted would happen. Predicted. So I think on terms of MiMedx, I'm pretty good.
And for people to still ignore me given what we've turned up with the FBI and Isakson, is really troubling. What Gretchen and Charlie at the Journal, and what the AJC guy turned up on Isakson, I'm amazed that people- the main mainstream media and the free speakers haven't really picked up on it and said, this is like, a big issue. And to sort of segue a little bit, although it's not my bailiwick, at the same time just about you had Elon Musk go on 60 Minutes, look straight ahead into the camera like I'm doing now, and say, just so you know, the SEC, I have no respect for you. I have no respect. I want that known.
So, we're in an environment where a CEO, guilty of security fraud, which he is clearly of, goes to the enforcers, on network television, looks straight into the camera, and says, I have no respect for you guys. I have no respect. You guys are the equivalent of a kangaroo court. We're in that world right now where people openly say they have zero respect for the rule of law. Which is why I've said and will continue to say the only job I will ever take ever is running the SEC. And I would do a damn great job, and it wouldn't take me that long to clean up half the nonsense that's out there, so the Parker Petits, and the Elon Musks and guys like that would play by the same rules that most law abiding citizens play by.
See, that's the problem. I'm all for light regulation. But the regulations that are out there, you need to fucking enforce. And I'm not accusing Christopher Wray of being involved in anything. But Christopher Wray was a big time partner at King & Spalding, who was doing MiMedx's investigation. And Chris Wray was a huge donor to Johnny Isakson, on Johnny Isakson's reelection campaign. So the head of the FBI, Chris Wray, and Johnny Isakson clearly know each other. So the question is, is Johnny Isakson, Chris Wray, Parker Petit, Tom Price- what's the connection with those four.
So you ask, why is this allowed to go on, and you say there is a lot of tentacles and waves. Yeah, there is a lot of waves. And if it was real simple, Isakson and the parties that be should make it right to me. They should make it right. They should make it right and turn over everyone what's really going