Martin Shkreli is facing a firestorm of controversy this week when it was revealed that he raised prices of the drug Daraprim, which is used to treat a parasitic infection, from $13.50 to $750 per pill—a 5,500 percent increase. Now, CNBC is reporting that the drug CEO was also accused of harassment by a former employee.
Before Turing Pharmaceuticals, the 32-year-old owned another pharmaceutical company called Retrophin. He reportedly blamed ex-employee Timothy Pierotti for defrauding his company, and hacked into Pierotti’s social media accounts to send negative messages to him and his relatives. According to court documents, Shkreli wrote this message to his wife in January 2013:
Pierotti filed a report with New Jersey police and Shkreli eventually settled out of court in 2014 after a New York Judge ordered him to turn over his computers to be analyzed. Shkreli later resigned from his position as CEO when Retrophin's board moved to replace him.
He declined to comment the case but, according to TechCrunch, the CEO has plenty to say about his most recent controversy on Twitter. The tech news site reports that he sent out more than 125 tweets to the “haters” calling him and his company out. Unfortunately, his tweets are protected so we can’t confirm the validity of the accusations. Screencaps, anyone?
Related Stories
Scientists May Have Finally Discovered a Cure for Blindness
Following the FDA's recent approval, human trials are expected to begin by the end of the year.
