3 ms·

Being an asshole in this context should be criminalized. If company buys a drug (or owns one), which people need to keep them alive, and it increases prices in

by hospes 11y ago

Being an asshole in this context should be criminalized. If company buys a drug (or owns one), which people need to keep them alive, and it increases prices in orders of magnitude without any business justification, other than making profit, then this should be criminalized. As a society we should decide where to draw the line. If an executive increases price of life saving drug purely to maximize companies profit, knowing that it will lead to death of other people, he should be treated as criminal.

basseq 11y ago
"Making profit" is the #1 business justification. This is in the same vein as, "Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?" What, exactly, do you propose to criminalize? Excessive profits? What is profit? How is it calculated—is it tied to the number of deaths, or just any death? On specific drugs or the company as a whole? Is this healthcare only, or any industry where lives could be at stake? Don't get me wrong, I think this is egregious profiteering, but you can't just point to profit as a bad thing. There was an interesting look at the ethics of search and rescue businesses in Wired earlier in the year, where I see some parallels (as well as a company acting in good faith). [1] http://www.wired.com/2015/08/search-and-rescue-for-sale/ http://www.wired.com/2015/08/search-and-rescue-for-sale/
- hospes 11y ago
  >> You can't just point to profit as a bad thing. It depends on context. In this context it is a bad thing. I believe that industries like healthcare and prison–industrial complex should not be for profit. The core of the problem is that it is for profit at least vast majority of it, including insurance, hospitals (most of them) and drug manufacturing.
  - mdpopescu 11y ago
    The legal distinction between for-profit and non-profit is irrelevant in this context. I'll just make a nice company that does the same thing and, instead of making a profit for my shareholders, I will give myself a nice fat check. Do you think that fixes anything?

by hospes 11y ago

basseq 11y ago

"Making profit" is the #1 business justification. This is in the same vein as, "Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?" What, exactly, do you propose to criminalize? Excessive profits? What is profit? How is it calculated—is it tied to the number of deaths, or just any death? On specific drugs or the company as a whole? Is this healthcare only, or any industry where lives could be at stake? Don't get me wrong, I think this is egregious profiteering, but you can't just point to profit as a bad thing. There was an interesting look at the ethics of search and rescue businesses in Wired earlier in the year, where I see some parallels (as well as a company acting in good faith). [1] http://www.wired.com/2015/08/search-and-rescue-for-sale/ http://www.wired.com/2015/08/search-and-rescue-for-sale/

hospes 11y ago
>> You can't just point to profit as a bad thing. It depends on context. In this context it is a bad thing. I believe that industries like healthcare and prison–industrial complex should not be for profit. The core of the problem is that it is for profit at least vast majority of it, including insurance, hospitals (most of them) and drug manufacturing.
- mdpopescu 11y ago
  The legal distinction between for-profit and non-profit is irrelevant in this context. I'll just make a nice company that does the same thing and, instead of making a profit for my shareholders, I will give myself a nice fat check. Do you think that fixes anything?