4 ms·

Seems to me like 'defrauding some of the most powerful people in the world, misdiagnosing serious diseases, and harassing a whistleblower to the point where he

Seems to me like 'defrauding some of the most powerful people in the world, misdiagnosing serious diseases, and harassing a whistleblower to the point where he killed himself' is an awfully high bar to clear in order for white-collar crime to be taken seriously. They fined Jammie Thomas, like, $800,000 dollars for downloading 30 songs off of napster or whatever. As far as I know, she didn't get to plead 'inability to pay'.

borski 3y ago
You moved the goalposts. The example was Theranos. I was responding about Theranos. That was the extent of my comment.
- mcv 3y ago
  I think GP makes a totally valid point. Big companies only get punished hard when they defraud powerful people, normal people get punished hard for doing something a company doesn't like. It really does seem the harshest punishments are handed out for hurting people/companies more powerful than you. The rich and powerful, including corporations, should be held more accountable. Instead, the law seems to get used mostly to keep people in their place. I still remember how HSBC got fined millions for laundering billions for Mexican drug cartels. Normal people would be doing hard time if they did that. Banks get fined less than the size of the crime.
  - hotsauceror 3y ago
    Let's not forget things like the Sackler family's relentless marketing of addictive opiates. They and their expensive retainers get to have lofty discussions about this and that, whether a particular settlement number is _fair_ or in the 'best interests of the patients' or whatever, how the very idea of litigation is hurting their ability to help those who really need it. Contrast that with the tone taken by our most powerful, about the scourge of illegal immigrants bring the very same chemicals into the country by swimming the Rio Grande. I would not be surprised to hear support for summary executions of every third person in Laredo, TX.
- hotsauceror 3y ago
  The first sentence was explicitly about Theranos. The whistleblower, defrauding former US Defense Secretaries, etc. That was all them.

borski 3y ago

You moved the goalposts. The example was Theranos. I was responding about Theranos. That was the extent of my comment.

mcv 3y ago
I think GP makes a totally valid point. Big companies only get punished hard when they defraud powerful people, normal people get punished hard for doing something a company doesn't like. It really does seem the harshest punishments are handed out for hurting people/companies more powerful than you. The rich and powerful, including corporations, should be held more accountable. Instead, the law seems to get used mostly to keep people in their place. I still remember how HSBC got fined millions for laundering billions for Mexican drug cartels. Normal people would be doing hard time if they did that. Banks get fined less than the size of the crime.
- hotsauceror 3y ago
  Let's not forget things like the Sackler family's relentless marketing of addictive opiates. They and their expensive retainers get to have lofty discussions about this and that, whether a particular settlement number is _fair_ or in the 'best interests of the patients' or whatever, how the very idea of litigation is hurting their ability to help those who really need it. Contrast that with the tone taken by our most powerful, about the scourge of illegal immigrants bring the very same chemicals into the country by swimming the Rio Grande. I would not be surprised to hear support for summary executions of every third person in Laredo, TX.
hotsauceror 3y ago
The first sentence was explicitly about Theranos. The whistleblower, defrauding former US Defense Secretaries, etc. That was all them.