Cal Medina is clearly based on Martin Shkreli one of the most hated men in America. In 2015 his company acquired the drug Pyrimethamine (known by the brand name Daraprim), an antiparasitic used to treat toxoplasmosis and cystoisosporiasis as well as (in combination with other drugs) malaria and AIDS. He then raised the cost of the drug in the United States from $13.50 per pill to a whopping $750 per pill, 56 times the original cost.
In 2022 Shkreli was ordered to pay back $64.4 million made in profits by inflating the price of the drug, and barred for life from any role in the pharmaceutical industry or running a public company, after a case was brought against him by the Federal Trade Commission and seven different states.
Despite Mr Shkreli's absence of several years due to a prison term, his former company has declined to lower the price of the drug.
To help Watson with her adoption troubles, Sherlock introduces her to an acquaintance of his, the King of Bohemia. The king of Bohemia was Sherlock's client in "A Scandal in Bohemia", the short story that introduced Irene Adler; though she was frequently mentioned in subsequent stories, "Scandal" was the only one in which she appeared.