Martin Shkreli: "Pharma Bro" fails with appeal before the Supreme Court

The controversial former CEO of the pharmaceutical industry, Martin Shkreli, has suffered a setback: The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review his appeal against a $64.6 million fine imposed by a judge. Shkreli, who gained significant attention and was dubbed "Pharma Bro" by the media, became notorious in 2015 when he raised the price of the essential drug Daraprim by more than 4,000%. The decision not to hear Shkreli's appeal upholds the ruling of a lower court that maintained the fine, which reflects the profit he and his former company made from the price increase. This sanction was imposed in 2022 by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan as part of a civil antitrust case. In addition to the fine, a lifetime ban from the pharmaceutical industry remained in place, with Cote accusing Shkreli of "particularly heartless and forced" practices against competitive products. By excluding competitors, he enabled the monopolization of the drug. Shkreli, now 41 years old, had increased the drug's price from $17.50 to $750 per tablet, drawing widespread public attention. In his appeal, Shkreli argued that he should not owe the full amount since he did not personally receive or control all the profits. However, the states involved deemed this argument insufficient for consideration by the Supreme Court. Since his release in May 2022, Shkreli has worked as a software developer and advisor to a law firm. Concurrently, he faces another lawsuit from the digital art collective PleasrDAO, accusing him of illegally streaming a unique album by the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan—an album previously seized by the US government in a criminal case against him.