Big Pharma's Martin Shkreli has just taken another hit as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit confirms the comeuppance he was served by a lower court last year. According to the Illinois Attorney General's office, Shkreli, infamously known as "Pharma Bro," is banned for life from the drug industry and told to cough up $64.6 million for conducting a monopolistic scheme over the lifesaving drug Daraprim.
The former Vyera Pharmaceuticals CEO was skewered for hiking the price of Daraprim – used to treat the serious parasite infection toxoplasmosis – by more than 4,000 percent overnight, with the price skyrocketing from $17.50 per pill to $750. Undeterred by the repercussions of abruptly boosting the price, Shkreli's company then executed an elaborate scheme to block any generic competition that might have offered a cheaper alternative.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul didn't hold back from celebrating the decision, saying, "I am pleased this decision was upheld because Illinois residents' lives depend upon pharmaceutical companies and their officers operating fairly and with patients' best interests in mind," as reported by the Illinois AG's news release. Raoul further lambasted illegal anti-competitive practices for hindering patient access to essential medications, vowing to keep the heat on companies and executives that conspire to price gouge.
Back in 2020, Attorney General Raoul teamed up with the Federal Trade Commission and other hounding state attorneys general to sue Vyera and Shkreli, for sustaining the drug's inflated pricing and keeping competitors at bay. The 2021 trial concluded with Shkreli being found liable on all claims, where the decision was largely agreed with by the states and the FTC, and Vyera's business partner, Kevin Mulleady, joined Shkreli in disgrace, netting his own seven-year industry ban and up to $40 million in penalties.
The federal appeals court's unanimous decision seals Shkreli's fate, echoing the lower court's findings about his past misconduct and the potential for future offenses if left unchecked. Alongside Raoul’s victory lap, California, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all also joined the crusade against Shkreli and his former company, sending a clear message that such exploitative practices won't fly in the face of the American health system.
