WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court rejected an appeal on Monday Martin Shkreli, who was once dubbed ‘Pharma Bro’ after jacking up the price of a life-saving drug.
Shkreli has appealed order to return $64.6 million in profits he and his former company made after monopolizing the market for the drug and drastically raising its price. His lawyers argued that the money went to his company and not to him personally.
However, prosecutors said the company agreed in a settlement to pay $40 million, and because Shkreli was the mastermind behind the scheme, he should bear responsibility for returning the profits.
So was Shkreli ordered to forfeit Once Upon a Time in Shaolin by the Wu-Tang Clan, the unreleased work that has been called the rarest musical album in the world. The multiplatinum hip-hop group auctioned off one copy of the album in 2015, on the condition that it would not be used for commercial use.
Shkreli was convicted of lying to investors and defrauding them of millions of dollars in two failed hedge funds he operated. Shkreli was CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals — later Vyera — when it raised the price of Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per pill after gaining exclusive rights to the decades-old drug in 2015. It treats a rare parasitic disease that affects pregnant women, cancer patients and women. AIDS patients.
He defended the decision because capitalism was at work, saying insurance and other programs ensured that people who need Daraprim would eventually get it. But the move sparked outrage, from the medical community to Congress.
Shkreli was released from prison in 2022 after serving much of a seven-year prison sentence.