The FTC and state co-plaintiffs said in January 2023 that they asked a federal judge to begin a civil-contempt process over Martin Shkreli’s compliance with a lifetime pharmaceutical-industry ban. Their filing was a request for court action—not a judicial finding that Shkreli violated the ban or was in contempt. The official materials cited here do not establish the motion’s final disposition or verify a separate 2026 contempt filing.
What the FTC and states alleged
On January 20, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it and state co-plaintiffs had asked the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to issue an order to show cause why Shkreli should not be held in civil contempt. Regulators said he had failed to provide requested documents and sit for an interview as they investigated compliance with the court’s pharmaceutical-industry ban. The FTC associated its inquiry with Druglike, Inc. The FTC’s January 20 announcement describes the request and the agency’s stated concerns.
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An order to show cause would require a response to the court; it is not itself a contempt judgment. The FTC announcement records what regulators alleged and sought. It does not establish that a judge found Shkreli violated the ban or held him in contempt.
What the lifetime ban covered
The ban arose from an antitrust case brought by the FTC, New York, and six other states against Vyera Pharmaceuticals, Shkreli, and others over conduct concerning Daraprim. In February 2022, the district court barred Shkreli for life from participating in the pharmaceutical industry and ordered $64.6 million in disgorgement. Those were outcomes in the underlying antitrust case, not penalties imposed through the 2023 contempt request. The FTC’s case record identifies the operative order as dated February 4, 2022.
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The Office of the New York Attorney General described Daraprim’s price increase as more than 4,000 percent and reported the $64.6 million disgorgement order. These figures concern the underlying case, not the contempt process. The attorney general’s 2024 statement summarizes that history.
How the case proceeded after the contempt request
- January 2020: The FTC, New York, and later six additional states brought the antitrust case concerning Daraprim.
- February 4, 2022: The district court’s operative order imposed the lifetime industry ban and disgorgement.
- January 20, 2023: The FTC announced the regulators’ request for an order to show cause, citing alleged noncooperation with its compliance investigation.
- January 23, 2024: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the underlying judgment and ban.
- October 7, 2024: The Supreme Court declined to hear Shkreli’s appeal, leaving the lower-court ruling in place, according to the New York Attorney General.
The appellate decisions concerned the antitrust judgment and lifetime ban. They do not, by themselves, resolve the separate 2023 contempt request. The official sources cited here do not establish the final disposition of that request, so it should not be described as a contempt finding or as a completed proceeding with a known outcome.
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What is—and is not—established
- Established: The FTC and state co-plaintiffs said they sought a civil-contempt process in January 2023, alleging that Shkreli had not supplied requested documents or attended an interview during compliance monitoring.
- Established: The underlying lifetime ban was imposed in 2022 and affirmed on appeal in 2024.
- Not established by the cited official materials: That a court found Shkreli in contempt for violating the ban, the final disposition of the 2023 request, or a distinct contempt filing in 2026.
In its 2023 announcement, then-Bureau of Competition Director Holly Vedova said Shkreli’s failure to comply with the court’s order showed “a clear disregard for the law,” and said the FTC would use its authority to investigate potential misconduct. Those were the FTC’s stated views, not a court’s conclusion.
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