As I look at the settlement for Purdue Pharma and a few others, I have to ask the question, “Why no prison time for big pharma?” Has American politics and by extension the Justice Department gotten so corrupt that any large campaign contributor can commit murder and face no prison time?
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Let’s not mince words here, this was murder for profit. We’ve known opium and its derivatives were addictive since the Opium Wars. It’s how Britain enslaved China for tea oh so long ago. Honestly, during the Cold War it’s how I thought the CIA was going to bring down Russia. Manufacturer and transport into Russia highly addictive recreational opioids until the nation was just a sniveling bunch of addicts unable to defend themselves.
If you don’t believe that last statement you need to read up on the crack cocaine epidemic in America. My writer’s mind always suspected one or more White Supremacist groups were behind that or at least helped facilitate it. Not so far fetched when you consider they could fund their hate group while killing off poor colored people who couldn’t afford safer recreational habits.
The Mortgage Crisis
Seriously, I understood how Jamie Dimon was allowed to destroy lives, forcing kids into drug trafficking and prostitution because their parents lost both jobs and homes all due to financial fraud he and the other big bankers engaged in. They paid Hillary Clinton a $750,000 “speaking fee” (bribe) to whisper into the ear of Justice so they would take prison off the table. Do we have stats on how many children died because of this “Mortgage Crisis?” The press and the government don’t even have the moxie to call it what it really was, widespread criminal fraud committed by players who knew they were engaged in criminal fraud.
Big banks got away with murder thanks to the Clintons. It also helped that nobody put out solid stats on just how many kids were killed globally due to the economic tragedy brought about by the big banks.
But how is Big Pharma getting away with it? The bankers didn’t leave their fingerprints on the bodies just like the Clintons don’t leave their fingerprints on their shady deals. Bankers had the added advantage of their kills being secondary. Because of family economic conditions kids (and parents) ended up in lives of crime to survive. People and the media focused on the drugs and prostitution instead of the why people who had otherwise been middle class ended up dead or in prison.
“60 Minutes”
There is no avoiding the why when it comes to Big Pharma. They pushed these drugs harder than any street dealer knowing people would be addicted and buying more. Doctors in Florida opened loosely regulated “pain clinics” and some where making $6000/day selling opioids. Hopefully you can watch that “60 Minutes” piece and learn about how many opioid pills were being shipped to Florida by opioid manufacturers. Here are a few select quotes.
In one 16-month period, DEA records showed Barry Schultz dispensed 800,000 opioid pills from his office pharmacy.
Bill Whitaker: So what role does Mallinckrodt play in this opioid crisis?
Jim Rafalski: They’re responsible.
Bill Whitaker: They are responsible.
Jim Rafalski: It– especially for the conduct in Florida.
Bill Whitaker: That’s a big statement.
Jim Rafalski: How can you not be responsible? How could you walk away from 500 million pills to a geographic area like the size of Florida? And knowing at the time this was occurring there was an opioid crisis there. That wasn’t a secret.
Do the math. When you divide 500,000,000 by 21,300,000 it comes out to 23.4741784038. That’s roughly 23 opioid pills for every man, woman and child in the state of Florida and that is from one manufacturer.
Citizens United and Prison Time
Is the real reason none of the CEOs or board members rotting for the rest of their lives in prison Citizens United? It sure seems like it. Money is not speech, money is a bribe. Speech is words you say or write.
Long ago I proposed the “John Smith Law.” It would mandate that “corporate citizens” be prosecuted as an individual named John Smith for any crimes the corporation commits. This removes the long drawn out legal process being flaunted as the reason the Justice Department isn’t doing its job. Prosecutors now just have to prove a crime was committed by anyone in the corporation for the benefit of the corporation (selling 500 million pills would definitely benefit the corporation). After that “John Smith” is sentenced. The CEO and board of directors serve said prison time.
Until CEOs and the board of directors start serving life+ in prison for this shit, it is never going to get better. Seriously, if you killed someone and got caught you would be in prison, possibly on death row. These people are still attending many thousand dollar per plate campaign fundraisers.
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