Posted on 02/05/2016 6:07:34 PM PST by Kaslin
Former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli refused to answer any questions during a congressional hearing on Thursday, drawing the ire of House Oversight and Government Reform Committee lawmakers.
Shkreli was arrested in December 2015 on securities fraud charges.
Shkreli, 32, is the founder and former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals AG. He has been widely criticized for raising the price of the lifesaving drug Daraprim more than 5,000 percent.
"Shkreli essentially ran his company like a Ponzi scheme where he used each subsequent company to pay off defrauded investors from the prior company," Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Robert Capers said at a press conference in December.
According to several sources, his pending criminal charges are not directly related to the drug price hike.
"On the advice of counsel, I invoke my Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, and decline to answer that question," he told Oversight Committee members several times at the "Developments in the Prescription Drug Market" hearing.
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), a former prosecutor, asked Shkreli if he was pronouncing his name correctly. He replied, "Yes." Gowdy then tried to get Shkreli to answer a question about drug pricing.
"I intend to follow the advice of counsel, not yours," Shkreli, the co-founder and former CEO of the biotechnology firm Retrophin LLC, told Gowdy.
Gowdy told Shkreli he would not incriminate himself by answering the question, but he still declined.
Gowdy decided to ask Shkreli about the Wu-Tang Clan album, “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin," that he purchased for $2 million late last year. The rap group decided to sell only one copy of the album to the highest bidder. Shkreli recently said he has not listened to the full album yet and some Wu-Tang fans have criticized him for not posting the tracks online.
"We can even talk about the purchase of Wu-Tang Clan - is that the name of the album? The name of the group?" asked Gowdy.
Shkreli still refused to answer.
His attorney, Ben Brafman, got out of his chair at one point and asked if he could speak. Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) shot back. "No, you are not recognized and you will be seated."
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the ranking member of the committee, pleaded with Shkreli to use his time in the spotlight to become a "tremendous force for good" and try to influence his former company to lower the price of Daraprim and other drugs.
"Drug company executives are lining their pockets at the expense of some of the most vulnerable families in our nation," Cummings said while Shkreli smiled.
"You could go down in history as the poster boy for greedy pharmaceutical executives, or you could change the system," he added.
Chaffetz eventually dismissed Shkreli from the hearing.
"Hard to accept that these imbeciles represent the people in our government," Shkreli said on his Twitter account after the hearing.
Shkreli dodges questions from lawmakers
Congress should be treated with contempt by all people.
I understand that drugs are expensive. This guy is a businessman who is making a profit. If he is doing that illegally, they should actually prosecute him. But if all he is doing is running a profitable business within the confines of the laws, then Congress can go take a flying leap.
Hard to agree with this guy on that remark but I do. Another thing I noticed is how hard the committee went after this guy. He deserved it however, it's obvious they save their indignation and bipartisan ire against someone who is not protecting one of their own within the ruling class.
You should watch the video of the hearing. His body language is very telling. He comes off as a smug, arrogant POS.
You should watch the video of the hearing. His body language is very telling. He comes off as a smug, arrogant POS.
Yes, he does.
So you are saying that he acts like a Democrat.
I realize this PUNK, this Bernie Sanders CHEERLEADER, looked like a total ASS...and probably is....
And not to give the smug arrogant jerk an excuse...but he is facing criminal charges and THEN gets brought before Congress?
ANYTHING he says would be used against him in the criminal trial. I don’t blame him for invoking the fifth.
And I don’t know the whole story about the 5000% raise in price on that drug....but I bet there is more to it than meets the eye.
Thoughts?
I was kind of expecting Cummings to side with the guy like he does every one else that the Republicans are picking on.
I agree, the little guy was a total schmuck. Smartass schmuck.
I wanted to smack him.
They could be brothers.
They could be brothers.
Hedge fund twins...
He raised the price of 1 pill 5000% if that is not greed, I don’t know what is
He sure does, I watched the video twice
Greed is not illegal.
I’m a Conservative. I believe in the marketplace. The guy is facing criminal charges. The people who wrote those laws are asking him questions. He’s a fool if he helps them in any way.
If a trial says that he’s a greedy guy who broke some laws, then he gets punished.
If a trial says he’s a greedy guy, he goes home like any American.
From all accounts, this guy is a cocky jerk.
However, he bought the company and can set the prices however he wants. If he sets them so high that no one buys, then he loses money.
The drug in question is off-patent. That means that any company is free to make its own version and sell it.
Market forces actually *do* work. Congress has no business poking its nose into the matter. This guy will learn soon enough that if he wants to sell stuff and get rich, he has to price it so people will buy it—no input from Congress needed.
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