‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli is sued by health insurers after raising the price of HIV medication

Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli is being sued by health insurers for more than $ 100 million after raising the price of the HIV drug Daraprim by 4,100 percent.

The case, which was filed in New York District Court on Thursday, accuses the convicted pharmaceutical executive and his companies, Vyera Pharmaceuticals and Phoenixus AG, of ‘scheme'[ing] to monopolize the US market ‘.

Shkreli is currently serving an unrelated seven-year prison sentence for a 2017 conviction for lying to investors about the performance of two hedge funds he managed, withdrawing more money from the funds than he was entitled to receive, and defrauded investors in a drug business. Retrophin by hiding its ownership of some of its stock.

He first gained notoriety by buying the rights to Daraprim, a drug used to treat an infection found in some AIDS, malaria and cancer patients and priced from $ 13.50 to $ 750 per pill increase.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota now say it has been unable to reach a generic version of the life-saving treatment for years beyond the market, as part of competitive competition.

This is the first time a private company has taken action against Shkreli over the price increase; he is being sued by the US government over the matter, reports Insider.

In the case, it is alleged: ‘In public, defendants claim to welcome generic competition and call it a’ wonderful thing ‘.

“But privately, defendants have blocked competitors from conducting generic tests through contractual restrictions that prohibit distributors and other buyers from selling Daraprim to generic companies.”

Dr. Craig Samitt, CEO of Blue Cross of Minnesota, said: “Medicine businesses must be held accountable for their role in ensuring that healthcare costs are sustainable for all.”

The case adds: ‘While locked up, accused Shkreli continued to lead the accused’s operations, and he communicated with Vyera executives and Phoenixus’ board of directors … via a smuggled cell phone and e-mail and telephone services managed by the Bureau of Prisons.

‘This lawsuit challenges the accused’s scheme to monopolize the US market for Daraprim – an essential, life-saving drug used in the treatment of toxoplasmosis – through a series of competitive competitions that have successfully thwarted generic competition for years and still causing prices against this competition. day. ‘

Shkreli is ordered to forfeit $ 7.3 million as part of his unrelated prison sentence and is due to be released from prison in September 2023.

He is also known for attacking critics on social media and praising anyone who can give him one of Hillary Clinton’s hair.

Shkreli got the news again late last year after a former Bloomberg journalist resigned her job and left her husband to be.

Christie Smythe claims she fell in love with Shkreli while covering up his white-collar crimes for work.

The 38-year-old shared details of their romance in Elle in December after being cut off by Shkreli, who said in a statement that he “wishes her well”.

In January, she revealed that the pair had reconciled.

Despite his reputation and crimes, Smythe said she fell hopelessly in love for the next few years after starting work with Shrkreli in early 2015, when she announced the news of his arrest for security fraud.

Smythe resigned from her job at Bloomberg and began visiting him in jail and defending him on Twitter until their relationship ‘finally became romantic’ after he was sentenced in 2018.

She has since said she froze her eggs to be able to have a family with Shkreli, 37, when he got out of jail. They had never slept together and could only briefly hug or kiss in jail.

Smythe has not been able to see him for more than a year, but she says she is ‘happier than ever’ and willing to wait for him, even if he does not talk to her.

‘I fell into the rabbit hole. I’m happy here. I feel like I have a purpose, ‘she said.

A federal judge last month rejected Shkreli’s second request for early release from prison.

U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto has shown skepticism about his claim that mental health issues weakened his immune system and made him more susceptible to contracting the coronavirus.

In a 12-page ruling, Matsumoto says Shkreli again could not demonstrate extraordinary and compelling factors that would require a sentencing change.

Matsumoto, the same judge who ruled against Shkreli in May, said the 37-year-old offered no evidence to support his allegations and that a mental health practitioner who evaluated him found him stable.

Matsumoto also rejects the argument that Shkreli should leave out because coronavirus-related barriers hinder his ability to communicate with the lawyers representing him in a civil lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission.

Matsumoto noted that Shkreli recently had a two-hour Zoom session with his attorneys, as well as several phone calls of up to an hour long.

Shkreli’s lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, declined to comment.

The low-security prison in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, where Shkreli is being held, has seen an increase in coronavirus cases among inmates and staff, while 26 inmates and 14 staff members are currently testing positive.

Prosecutors said there were no positive cases in Shkreli’s apartment unit from January 6. In her ruling, Matsumoto writes that Shkreli is a ‘relatively young and healthy man’ and that he does not run the risk of getting serious complications if he contractes the disease.

In his original request for compassionate release, Shkreli asked to be released from prison for three months to set his background “as a successful dual biopharmaceutical entrepreneur” to investigate a coronavirus treatment “under strict supervision.”

Matsumoto denied the allegations, prompting officials to test Shkreli’s claim that he could develop a cure for coronavirus that ‘evades the best medical and scientific minds in the world working 24 hours a day’, “erroneous behavior is.”