A follow up article that talks about costs and projections and such for even beginning to tackle this problem and how it relates to settlement numbers. I don't want to sound petty about things, but part of me lovea the idea of each state individually going after these companies, if only because it means it's gonna get real expensive for these guys real quick with all the legal fees they have to deal with. As for Johnson and Johnson, they make a ton of stuff besides medicine, from shampoo to medical devices. Barring them from doing business might have some pretty tough economic drawbacks. goobster and I have talked about this idea in a previous thread. I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about it.
I agree that another company will by the assets and fill the gap in the market left. The human cost of the transition is hard to swallow though. It brings up the question, If we have let certain companies gain such control on the health of the nation, what amount of sacrifice is too much to re establish independence from them? The first step at would be to change monopoly on production of a drug maybe, but that's a whole other rabbit whole with its own drawbacks. My post was influenced by emotion. You're right, it's a complicated issue. I'm not sure there will be an easy solution.
Some days, I'm nothing but emotion when it comes to this issue, so I totally know where you're coming from. One of the things that frustrates me about this issue, and other complicated ones like banking, housing, the internet, etc., is that these companies and practices and such are so interwoven into our lives and yet we don't always give them the amount of scrutiny they deserve. As a result, when things go south, the damage can be massive and have far reaching consequences. Often, to patch things back up, even further damage will be created in the process. Everything feels like a real big mess right now.