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WASHINGTON/NEW YORK – A U.S. congressional committee has demanded that former drug executive Martin Shkreli appear in a hearing on drug prices to testify about his former company’s decision to boost the cost of a lifesaving medicine by a lot more than 5,000 percent, congressional aides said on Wednesday.
Shkreli, who is separately facing federal criminal charges that he defrauded investors, continues to be served having a subpoena to look on Jan. 26 prior to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the aides said.
Found this letter. Looks important. pic.twitter.com/3Ws154SGM4
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) January 20, 2016
The Senate’s Special Committee on Aging, also is investigating the business’s drug pricing practices, said on Wednesday that Shkreli has invoked the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination, and has refused to create subpoenaed documents.
Shkreli, 32, fired back at lawmakers on Twitter, writing on Wednesday that the House was “busy whining to healthcare reporters about me appearing for their chit chat next week. Haven’t decided yet. Must i?” He declined a job interview request.
House busy whining to healthcare reporters about me appearing for their talk next week. Haven't decided yet. Must i? @RepCummings
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) January 20, 2016
The outspoken entrepreneur sparked a firestorm this past year after he raised the price of Daraprim, a decades-old strategy to a dangerous parasitic infection, to US$750 an herbal viagra from US$13.50 after acquiring it. The medicine once sold for US$1 a pill.
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Shkreli pleaded not guilty recently to criminal charges he ran his companies like a Ponzi scheme, using each subsequent company to pay off defrauded investors from a prior company.
After his arrest, he stepped down as chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals and was fired as chief executive of KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc. KaloBios also declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Shkreli’s past companies likewise incorporate Retrophin Inc, which sued him for alleged mismanagement.
Testifying before Congress is risky for someone facing criminal charges due to the chance they might say something prosecutors would use later in a trial. For that reason, many such witnesses invoke the Fifth Amendment and refuse to answer questions.
To even visit Washington, Shkreli is required to first obtain the sign-off of the federal judge because his release on bond restricts him to certain parts of New York state. However, judges typically grant temporary travel waivers to white-collar defendants.
U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the oversight committee, said the hearing can give Shkreli a chance to explain his views on drug pricing.
“I happen to be trying for the better part of annually to get information from Martin Shkreli about his outrageous price increases, and he has obstructed our investigation at each turn,” Cummings said in a statement.
? Thomson Reuters 2016
