Speed Reads

pharma bro strikes again

Martin Shkreli was asked if he did anything wrong at a congressional hearing. He pled the Fifth.

Former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals Martin Shkreli appeared as a witness before a congressional committee investigating drug price hikes, only to invoke the Fifth Amendment. The committee eventually dismissed him after his continued refusal to talk, with Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) remarking on Shkreli's "unprecedented arrogance."

Shkreli, who fell into the public eye last year when he raised the price of a lifesaving cancer and HIV drug by 5,000 percent, was also recently arrested and charged with securities fraud.

"On the advice of counsel, I invoke my Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and respectfully decline to answer your question," Shkreli said repeatedly at the hearing, answering only once on the question of the pronunciation of his name.