FTC and Seven States Seek Contempt Ruling Against Martin Shkreli

Martin Shkreli faces a new legal challenge after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and seven states asked a federal judge on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, to hold him in contempt for allegedly violating a lifetime ban on participating in the pharmaceutical industry. The authorities claim he breached a 2022 court order by trading pharmaceutical stocks and publicly commenting on companies in the sector after his release from prison.

According to an FTC press release, Shkreli traded shares in at least 60 pharmaceutical industry companies and publicly discussed their businesses and management. The agency and the states contend that these activities violated restrictions imposed in a civil antitrust case.

The contempt filing asks the judge to require Shkreli to sell any pharmaceutical company shares he still owns and pay a fine equivalent to his profits from trading those stocks, plus prejudgment interest. The proposed calculation would not allow him to offset profitable trades with losses.

The authorities also want the court to impose escalating penalties for future violations, including financial sanctions and possible imprisonment.

FTC Commissioner Mark Meador emphasized that compliance must be enforced when courts impose permanent restrictions.

"A lifetime industry ban is only effective if breaches are met with consequences commensurate with the seriousness of the order."

Meador's statement accompanied the enforcement action seeking consequences for the alleged violations of the existing court order.

The underlying civil case concerned an anticompetitive scheme involving Daraprim, an antiparasitic drug marketed by Shkreli's company. The court found that the scheme was designed to maintain the company's monopoly, and Shkreli raised the drug's price from $17.50 per tablet to $750 per pill.

As part of the ruling, a judge permanently barred Shkreli from the pharmaceutical industry and ordered him to disgorge more than $64 million.

Daniel Guarnera, director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition, said the original case established the consequences of Shkreli's conduct for patients and competition in the prescription drug market.

"After a full trial, the court found that Martin Shkreli's conduct drove up prescription drug costs for American patients and blocked the entry of lower-cost generics," Guarnera said in a statement on Tuesday.

Guarnera also stressed that court judgments create enforceable obligations, whether they arise from settlements or decisions following trials.

"When judgment is entered by a court, whether it's a settlement or an order following a trial, defendants must fulfill their obligations," Guarnera said. "Today's action should serve as notice that the FTC will not hesitate to enforce violations of court orders."

The civil proceedings are separate from Shkreli's criminal case. In 2017, he was convicted of securities fraud involving hedge funds he had operated and another pharmaceutical company he founded.

Shkreli received a seven-year federal prison sentence in 2018 and was released in May 2022, with credit for time served before sentencing and other factors. The FTC and the seven states are now seeking judicial enforcement of the lifetime pharmaceutical industry ban imposed in the separate civil case.