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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and attorneys general from seven states are asking a federal judge to hold Martin Shkreli in civil contempt for allegedly violating a lifetime ban from the pharmaceutical industry. Shkreli, once known as "Pharma Bro," was banned in 2022 after being accused of using illegal tactics to block competition and raise the price of a life-saving drug.
According to PharmaLive, Shkreli urged a U.S. judge not to hold him in contempt, claiming he has complied with the ban "as extensively as possible and in good faith." He also stated that he has provided the materials requested by the FTC and seven states.
The FTC, as reported by ABC News, alleges that Shkreli has not complied with requests for information about Druglike Inc., a company he allegedly formed last July. Shkreli contends that he never had an ownership stake or executive role at Druglike, which he believes has been dissolved, and that his new venture, DL Software, is outside the pharmaceutical industry ban.
Shkreli was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2017 for defrauding investors and was released early last May. The FTC's contempt motion will be decided by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote, who imposed the lifetime ban and a $64.6 million penalty related to Shkreli's efforts to keep generic versions of the drug Daraprim off the market.