You've probably seen this story:
The company that makes the narcotic painkiller OxyContin and three current and former executives pleaded guilty today in federal court here to criminal charges that they misled regulators, doctors and patients about the drug’s risk of addiction and its potential to be abused.
Do you have a problem with this?
And more from the NY Times:
To resolve criminal and civil charges related to the drug’s "misbranding," the parent of Purdue Pharma, the company that markets OxyContin, agreed to pay some $600 million in fines and other payments, one of the largest amounts ever paid by a drug company in such a case.
Also, in a rare move, three executives of Purdue Pharma, including its president and its top lawyer, pleaded guilty today as individuals to misbranding, a criminal violation. They agreed to pay a total of $34.5 million in fines.
So the corporate folks who sold an addictive drug, probably to millions, pay their way out of prison. The local pot dealer, on the other hand gets five years in prison.
I think there are two things wrong here. First, the problem of corporate personhood. You just can't punish a paper entity the same way you can a biological organism. No matter what they do, they just pay their way out of trouble and go on doing what they do. Anybody remember Bhopal and Union Carbide? Second, Lady Justice may be blind (and modestly draped at DOJ) but she sure can sense the difference between the rich and famous and the rest of us.
I think the corporation should lose its patent and all future rights to the drug. The executives should be sent to prison.
Am I the only one who is outraged?