FTC Seeks Contempt Finding Against Martin Shkreli Over Pharma Ban
Federal regulators and seven states allege Shkreli repeatedly defied a 2022 lifetime ban from the pharmaceutical industry.
The Federal Trade Commission and seven state attorneys general have asked a federal judge to hold Martin Shkreli in contempt, alleging the former pharmaceutical executive brazenly and repeatedly defied a court order barring him from the industry for life, according to a filing made public Thursday.
The 2022 order, issued by a federal court, imposed the lifetime ban following an FTC action against Shkreli. Regulators now contend that evidence gathered since that ruling shows he never stopped engaging in conduct the order was designed to prohibit, though the filing did not detail every specific allegation in the publicly available summary.
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Shkreli gained national notoriety years ago after hiking the price of a life-saving drug by more than 5,000 percent, a move that drew congressional scrutiny and helped fuel broader debate over pharmaceutical pricing practices in the United States. The FTC's 2022 action resulted in the rare step of a lifetime industry ban, a sanction regulators reserved for what they characterized as egregious anticompetitive behavior.
A contempt finding, if granted by the court, could expose Shkreli to significant additional legal consequences, including fines or other sanctions designed to enforce compliance with the original order. The involvement of seven states alongside the FTC signals a broad, coordinated enforcement effort to ensure the ban carries meaningful legal weight.
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