Martin Shkreli, notoriously known as “Pharma Bro,” continues to be in the spotlight following his latest legal setback. Some may remember him rising to infamy in the mid-2010s when he inflated the price of lifesaving drug Daraprim by
4,000% overnight and was subsequently convicted for securities fraud.
In 2020, Shkreli was sued by the New York State Attorney General Letitia James, the Federal Trade Commission, and seven individual states for exploiting monopoly power to raise the price of Daraprim — an action he carried on even while serving his jail time for securities fraud. Subsequently, he was ordered by the Southern District of New York judge Denise Cote to pay back $64.6 million in profits and was banned from the pharmaceutical industry for life. Judge Cote
expressed her fear that if not implemented, Shkreli could again engage in anticompetitive conduct within the pharmaceutical industry.
Expressing his discontent, Shkreli appealed to the Second Circuit. However, he found no sympathy there. A unanimous panel of Barrington D. Parker Jr., Myrna Pérez, and Sarah A.L. Merriam
upheld the original order, maintaining the $64.6 million payment and the lifetime pharma ban.
Far from accepting the verdict, Shkreli posted his disappointment on Twitter, voicing his outrage at the verdict and his referral to the precedent case set under the Sherman Act Section 2. Yet, it seems this online discourse will have no influence on the Second Circuit’s decision.
As a ripple effect of this case, Attorney General James has cited Shkreli’s industry-wide ban as a reference in her existing efforts to impose a ban in the real estate sector in the
civil fraud trial of Donald Trump.
For more details on this ongoing story, read the full account on
Above the Law.