Cummings Calls for Oversight Committee Hearing with Both Mylan and Martin Shkreli

Aug 25, 2016
Press Release

Cummings Calls for Oversight Committee Hearing with Both Mylan and Martin Shkreli

 

Washington D.C. (August 25, 2016) —Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, called for a hearing in September with officials from Mylan, which dramatically increased its price for EpiPens. 

In addition, after an exchange on Twitter, Cummings announced that Martin Shkreli agreed to return to the Committee and finally testify before the American people pursuant to the subpoena issued by Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz in January.

Ranking Member Cummings issued the following statement:

“I am encouraged that Mr. Shkreli has agreed to come back to testify before the Oversight Committee.  The tactics we have seen recently with Mylan are not limited to a few ‘bad apples,’ but are prevalent throughout the entire drug industry, as our investigation has shown repeatedly and as Mr. Shkreli himself has indicated.  This is an issue that the American people care deeply about from both a health and a pocketbook perspective, and I thank Chairman Chaffetz for continuing to cooperate with us on this critical investigation.”

The Oversight Committee originally invited Mr. Shkreli to testify in a bipartisan letter on January 7, 2016. 

Mr. Shkreli and his attorneys gave conflicting accounts of whether he would testify, causing the Committee to issue a subpoena on January 27, 2016, compelling his appearance. 

At the hearing, which took place on February 4, 2016, Mr. Shkreli declined to testify and invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself.

During the hearing, Ranking Member Cummings released memos describing internal corporate documents on skyrocketing drug prices, stating:  “The documents show that these tactics are not limited to a few ‘bad apples,’ but are prominent throughout the industry.”

Cummings urged Shkreli to use his notoriety to combat these tactics, stating:  “You have a spotlight, and you have a platform.  You could use that attention to come clean, to right your wrongs, and to become the one of the most effective patient advocates in the country and one that can make a big difference in so many people’s lives.” 

See below for Shkreli’s Twitter exchange today:

 

 

114th Congress