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comment by goobster
goobster  ·  1718 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Reckitt Benckiser Agrees To Pay $1.4 Billion In Opioid Settlement

    If we, in our thirst for justice, cause innocent people to lose their jobs and make it more difficult and more expensive for the ill to get the medicine that they need, then we're commiting a whole new act of injustice.

Fortunately, their in-demand products are valuable. So if the penalty for committing a crime harms the company, they can always sell their valuable assets (rights to the production of a medication) to another company.

That way, the customer is not inconvenienced. The supplier gets punished according to the severity of their crime, while the market does not lose a valuable product.

Of course, there need to be regulatory controls on price-gouging by the new owners, to protect the people that need the medication, but that's normal business and getting better with the publicity around the price-gouging for insulin.

So punish the bastards. Knock them out of business, if necessary. There will always be someone to buy up the assets and continue providing a medication that the world needs.

    If we, in our thirst for justice, cause innocent people to lose their jobs and make it more difficult and more expensive for the ill to get the medicine that they need, then we're commiting a whole new act of injustice.

No worries. I read your rant as venting in general; not yelling at me.

Sometimes we just need to yell at the clouds and make ourselves feel heard. I'm happy to be that cloud for you, on this issue... =)