A House lawmaker says former Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli, reviled for hiking the price of a life-saving drug, has not made any legal arrangements to appear before Congress next week, despite receiving a subpoena.
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland) said a lawyer for Shkreli indicated he has not sought permission from a New York judge to appear at a congressional hearing Tuesday on drug prices.
Shkreli is charged with securities fraud and conspiracy in a case stemming from one of his previous drug companies. Under the terms of bail in that case, he is required to remain in New York state. However, a judge could grant an exception to travel.
House lawmakers want to question Shkreli about his decision to hike the price of Daraprim, the only approved drug for a rare and sometimes deadly parasitic infection, by 5,000 percent. He resigned from Turing last month following his arrest.
Cummings, who has been investigating exorbitant drug prices, said the 32-year-old Shkreli must take steps to appear before the committee.
"If he plans on trying to use his own intentional inaction as some kind of bogus excuse for not showing up at Tuesday's hearing, people will see right through such a juvenile tactic," Cummings said in statement.
Shkreli, an unabashed self-promoter who often livestreams his daily life, has repeatedly bashed Cummings and other Washington lawmakers through social media.
