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Martin Shkreli Refuses to Answer Lawmakers’ Questions About 5,000% Drug Price Hike

HeadlineFeb 05, 2016

In other news from the pharmaceutical industry, the former hedge fund manager dubbed “the most hated man in America” after he hiked the price of a life-saving drug by more than 5,000 percent has refused to testify before Congress. Martin Shkreli founded Turing Pharmaceuticals, which purchased the drug Daraprim and boosted the price from $13.50 to $750. He was questioned Thursday by members of a House committee, including Utah Congressmember Jason Chaffetz.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz: “What do you say to that single pregnant woman who might have AIDS, no income, and she needs Daraprim in order to survive? What do you say to her when she has to make that choice? What do you say to her?”

Martin Shkreli: “On the advice of counsel, I invoke my Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and respectfully decline to answer your question.”

After refusing to answer any questions, Martin Shkreli took to Twitter, writing, “Hard to accept that these imbeciles represent the people in our government.” Shkreli is out on $5 million bail on unrelated charges of cheating hedge fund investors.

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