The committee’s top-ranked Democrat, Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland told Shkreli, “The way I see it, you can go down in history as the poster boy for greedy drug company executives or you can change the system”.
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At one point, Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah instructed Shkreli’s attorney to sit down when he attempted to get involved in the proceedings.
Shkreli, the former chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, who gained notoriety for jacking up a little-known drug’s price, was excused from a House hearing on drug prices after he refused to answer any questions – other than how to pronounce his name correctly, or to confirm that, yes, he was listening.
In her earlier opening statement, Retzlaff said, “I believe the decisions made by the company have been appropriate”.
Most users showed disapproval of Shkreli’s direct insult hurled towards the members of the congressional panel from his own Twitter account.
“I’m know you’re smiling but I’m very serious, sir”, Cummings said.
Shkreli chose to use his Fifth Amendment rights and did not answer the lawmakers’ questions.
Instead, he antagonized lawmakers during his almost 45 minutes on the stand by smirking, twirling his pencil, doodling, and posing for pictures, while refusing to answer any questions about drug prices. Daraprim, which cost just $7.5 a pill, had its price shoot up to $750.
On Thursday, Shkreli walked into the packed hearing room well before the session began and met the crush of cameras.
Brafman said Shkreli would have liked to discuss drug pricing but had no choice, given the criminal charges against him. “Should be a very handsome investment for all of us”.
Documents from Valeant and Turing show they have made a practice of buying and then dramatically raising prices for, low-cost drugs given to patients with life-threatening conditions including heart disease, AIDS and cancer, according to excerpts released this week by the House panel. “Shkreli” trended on Twitter in the United States. Shkreli defended the price increase as legal.
In December, Shkreli was arrested on federal securities fraud charges and freed on a $5 million bond.
At a hearing on prescription drug prices, he pointed to newly released documents from a committee investigation that showed Turing approved raises for its officers at a board meeting and spent thousands of dollars on chartered yachts, celebrity performances, and a “fireworks package”.
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“I think everyone will recognize that Mr. Shkreli is not a villain”, Brafman told reporters. Asked about the morality of making the Daraprim price unaffordable to many critically ill patients, a Truing representative said the company also invests in “patient access programs”. Howard Schiller, the interim chief executive of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, another company that has been accused of operating more like a hedge fund than a drug company, appeared.
