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Governments around the world are terrible at 'catching corporations for lying' in any way. There are manifold examples in every regulatory field, in every count

by nickff 3y ago

Governments around the world are terrible at 'catching corporations for lying' in any way. There are manifold examples in every regulatory field, in every country. Examples include Wirecard, Theranos, Volkswagen, Johnson & Johnson talc, etc. In most cases, the regulators are handed the evidence, and take a long time to do anything about it. In my mind, the question is whether the massive regulatory burdens which protect incumbents and inhibit liberty are worth it. This is not an all-or-nothing question, and might be answered field-by-field, but regulators have not covered themselves in glory.

deleted 3y ago
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wallaBBB 3y ago
The list of caught ones is immensely longer. It’s a cat and mouse game, it doesn’t really stop. Big pharma spends a lot of money on training the employees on how not to get caught. I worked 5 years in big pharma and it took me almost a year to understand why are the constantly repeating compliance and fair practice trainings. Giving examples how others failed, etc. Those were not there to tell you not to do it, but what to watch out for. And the sale targets and incentives are there to motivate you to cross the lines. I’m just grateful I was not in sales but application training. Btw how is a government responsible for Theranos? There was never a product there, just promises burning VC money. Wirecard is more a failure of trusted independent auditors (one of the big 4) that failed to do a proper international audit.
- nickff 3y ago
  The FDA was the regulator for Theranos' products, which were used by customers, and the SEC was the regulator for Theranos' securities. https://theconversation.com/how-theranos-faulty-blood-tests-got-to-market-and-what-that-shows-about-gaps-in-fda-regulation-168050 https://theconversation.com/how-theranos-faulty-blood-tests-... https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr-24069 https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr-24069 Wirecard was actually a much worse regulatory failure in that the regulator attempted to prosecute the reporters which revealed the affair. Not only did the regulator fail to uncover either side of Wirecard's illegal behaviour, they went after the people who did. https://www.ft.com/content/4ebd9032-d3d1-4a9e-976c-d1235448ee20 https://www.ft.com/content/4ebd9032-d3d1-4a9e-976c-d1235448e...

by nickff 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

wallaBBB 3y ago

The list of caught ones is immensely longer. It’s a cat and mouse game, it doesn’t really stop. Big pharma spends a lot of money on training the employees on how not to get caught. I worked 5 years in big pharma and it took me almost a year to understand why are the constantly repeating compliance and fair practice trainings. Giving examples how others failed, etc. Those were not there to tell you not to do it, but what to watch out for. And the sale targets and incentives are there to motivate you to cross the lines. I’m just grateful I was not in sales but application training. Btw how is a government responsible for Theranos? There was never a product there, just promises burning VC money. Wirecard is more a failure of trusted independent auditors (one of the big 4) that failed to do a proper international audit.

nickff 3y ago
The FDA was the regulator for Theranos' products, which were used by customers, and the SEC was the regulator for Theranos' securities. https://theconversation.com/how-theranos-faulty-blood-tests-got-to-market-and-what-that-shows-about-gaps-in-fda-regulation-168050 https://theconversation.com/how-theranos-faulty-blood-tests-... https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr-24069 https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr-24069 Wirecard was actually a much worse regulatory failure in that the regulator attempted to prosecute the reporters which revealed the affair. Not only did the regulator fail to uncover either side of Wirecard's illegal behaviour, they went after the people who did. https://www.ft.com/content/4ebd9032-d3d1-4a9e-976c-d1235448ee20 https://www.ft.com/content/4ebd9032-d3d1-4a9e-976c-d1235448e...