During his time as head of Turing, he guided the company in acquiring the drug Daraprim and raising its price to $750 for every pill.
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The lawmakers had summoned him to answer for the decision to raise the price for Daraprim, the only approved drug for a rare and sometimes deadly parasitic infection.
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) scolded Shkreli before the committee chose to oust him.
In Turing’s defence, Retzlaff said that two-thirds of patients receive Daraprim at a steep discount through government programs, whereas Shkreli’s testimony was much more restricted.
‘People are dying and they’re getting sicker’.
The boyish-faced Shkreli sat quietly at the witness table, clasping his hands tightly and slowly rubbing his fingers together as he was lectured. At one point, they even asked him to pronounce his name properly.
After the hearing, he removed any doubt about his feelings.
Remember Martin Shkreli, the former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals?
Gowdy continued, “I just want to make sure you understand you are welcome to answer questions and not all of your answers are going to subject you to incrimination”.
Shkreli took the Fifth Amendment on advice of his attorney because Shkreli is now on bail facing securities fraud charges, with a possibility of 20 years in prison.
Despite coming under fire from members of Congress, American businessman and pharma exec Martin Shkreli continues to show his defiance by choosing to berate the lawmakers through social media.
When pressed for answers on price gouging during the hearing, he repeatedly said: “I intend to follow the advice of my counsel, not yours” while smirking at members of Congress.
Shkreli’s apparent disrespect for the committee prompted Rep. John Mica, R-Fla.to ask chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz to hold the former CEO in contempt of Congress, to which the chairman declined.: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the committee treated with such contempt”, said Mica.
“No, you are not recognized and you will be seated”, Chaffetz said.
Shkreli is typically outspoken, a personality feature that has earned him the nickname “Pharmo Bro”, so remaining silent during the hearing was an unusual display of restraint. “The First Amendment protects Mr. Shkreli’s right to post his opinion on Twitter that the Congress is populated by ‘imbeciles.’ This is classic political free speech”, said lawyer Paul Callan. After leaving the hearing room, providing very little information, he blasted the lawmakers on Twitter, calling them imbeciles.
“I dont live my life for support from other people”, he said.
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He went on to launch Turing Pharmaceuticals and made global headlines in September when he hiked up the price of the drug Daraprim by 5,000%.
