Martin Shkreli, former CEO of Turing, smirked his way through Thursday's Congressional hearing. (credit: CSPAN)
WASHINGTON—After Turing Pharmaceutical raised the price of the decades-old, life-saving drug, Daraprim, from $13.50 a pill to $750 last fall—leaving some patients with $16,000 co-pays—Turing executives handed out six-figure bonuses, spent thousands of dollars on a lavish yacht party, and paid a public relations firm to help them shine their tarnished reputation.
The revelations came amid a Thursday hearing by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which focused on such high-profile cases of drug price-hikes that the committee argues are helping to fuel the soaring costs of healthcare. The committee, chaired by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), aimed to understand why some drugs’ prices have skyrocketed and figure out how to stop it.
One of the key witnesses they called to testify was Martin Shkreli, Turing’s majority shareholder and former CEO, who was largely responsible for Daraprim’s price hike. Shkreli stepped down as CEO in December, shortly after being indicted on fraud charges for allegedly running a Ponzi-like scheme with two former hedge funds and swindling another former pharmaceutical company, Retrophin, out of millions of dollars. In light of his impending criminal trial, Shkreli said prior to the hearing that he would not answer questions from the lawmakers and would invoke his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination. He kept to his word.
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