When I first heard about this incident, it seemed as if those who make baby products got busted for running drugs through them. I thought to myself, "Wow, that is pretty interesting." However, now I'm not so sure just how interesting it is. It seems as if Johnson & Johnson has illegally promoted one of their drugs (in a separate branch of their company) to young children and the elderly, and just like every other time a large company has done something that they aren't supposed to do, they are going to get away with it by paying their way out.
At $2.2 billion, this is the third largest pharmaceutical settlement in the history of the US, according to The New York Times. This seems like a very large sum of money, and to most people it is, but not to Johnson & Johnson, who, according to The New York Times, in one year, brought in $3.1 billion in revenue just off of the drug in question alone! And to make this number seem even smaller to them, this was only five percent of their total revenue for that year.
Now, I am not one who believes that people with money are evil, nor do I believe that they should have it stuck to them anytime that society gets the chance. However, I do believe that people should be held responsible for their actions, and that people should each be treated fairly under the law. I am not an expert on this exact case, it actually seems pretty confusing to me, but the article brings to mind all of the times I have heard of big companies throwing money at people in lawsuits and having them run away. I do not think that this is the best way to go about handling this. Someone should be held accountable personally, not a settlement that involves the handing over of a large sum of money. If we were to hold those at the top, as well as those who call the shots in the company, responsible for their actions, then I do not believe that we would see as much as this. These people tend to feel somewhat invincible or indestructible due to their status at the top. At the very least, Johnson & Johnson should've fired someone for this.
Someone should be held accountable for the Johnson & Johnson's actions. There is no excusing the fact that many peoples lives were put at risk just because the company can afford to shove $2.2 billion in someone's face.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that someone should have been held personally accountable for this. It makes it worse that the lead person responsible for the scandal under the pharmaceutical branch now has power over the entire company. I find it disturbing how far people are willing to go to make some profit.
ReplyDeleteI like how you brought the fact of someone should take responsibility. I doubt we will ever find out who is truly responsible for this, but it would be nice to know that some sort of action was taken to make sure that nothing like this would happen again.
ReplyDeleteHow can one determine who should be held responsible? Johnson & Johnson is a very big cooperation, I'm sure. C.E.Os delegate powers, and other bosses receive only limited information as to what's being directed from above. Who's in charge of this mess, who's the responsible one? I don't agree that the current C.E.O of J&J is the ONLY one responsible for the scandal...there has to be more to this story that the news is failing to report.
ReplyDeleteAs everyone notes, perhaps the choice not to prosecute is simply a matter of complexity. They'd have to prove that there was knowledge and deliberation at the highest levels of the corporation. This may actually turn out to be pretty difficult. I don't see why they couldn't be prosecuted theoretically for fraud, though.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that the people responsible should be punished directly instead of the company in general losing a bit of profit. However, I think it may be difficult to find exactly who the people responsible are. So instead, I think J&J should have to forfeit every penny they made off of this drug instead of just a portion.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to see some criminal charges be brought against those with proven knowledge of these activities. A fine is not enough.
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