USA lawmakers are anxious to hear from 32-year-old pharmaceutical chief Martin Shkreli about severe hikes for a drug sold by a company that he acquired.
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But it’s unlikely the former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals will answer questions in his appearance Thursday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Martin Shkreli, the former pharmaceutical executive who inspired wrath when he raised the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000 percent, appeared before the House Oversight Committee on Thursday for a hearing on prescription drug prices.
Shkreli is facing separate criminal charges of securities fraud related to another drug company.
House lawmakers accuse Turing – along with Valeant Pharmaceuticals – of raising drug prices in search of profit.
But anticipating a possible backlash, the company warned in an internal memo that advocates for HIV patients might react to the price hike.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the panel, berated Shkreli: “I call this money blood money… coming out of the pockets of hardworking Americans”, he told Shkreli.
No longer with Turing Pharmaceuticals, Shkreli was skewered by both parties during the committee hearing, many of whom focused on his lavish lifestyle with purchases like a $2 million Wu-Tang Clan album.
Asked about his actions, he said: “On the advice of counsel, I invoke my Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, and respectfully decline your question.”plead the fifth”.
Other than answering “yes” to one lawmaker asking whether he had pronounced his name correctly and then to another, when asked if he were listening, Shkreli invoked his Fifth Amendment rights five times before being escorted out of the hearing less than an hour after it began.
At one point, Shkreli’s lawyer, Ben Brafman, asked, “May I interject, Mr. Chairman?”
Chaffetz: “Do you think you’ve done anything wrong?”
“I intend to follow the advice of my counsel, not yours”, he told Representative Trey Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican.
“I know you’re smiling”, Cummings said, “But I’m very serious, sir”.
“My constituents. They don’t buy Wu-Tang Clan albums”, Cummings said. Rep. John Mica (R., Fla.) threatened to hold Mr. Shkreli in contempt for refusing to testify, but Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R., Utah), who is the committee’s chairman, indicated he wouldn’t seek a contempt finding.
He also wrote that patients were best served when prices reflected the market: “When these drugs are priced to reflect more closely their true clinical value, the more accurate price signals incentivize generic competition and innovation”.
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Schiller said in written testimony that Valeant has tried to keep drugs affordable through volume-based rebates and a partnership with Walgreens.
