Bayer sells HIV infected hemophiliac drug overseas with FDA blessing

[The Xenos]

Here is the story of how Bayer released a drug for hemophiliacs. Bayer found a batch was infected by HIV, so they pull it off the US market and sell it to foriegn countries with the blessing of the FDA.

here is the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS3mhjt7TrY

America... *(&#$ yeah. What the hell is wrong with the world?

[outlander78]

There was a Law and Order (Criminal Intent?) show about this, but without the FDA bit.

[Lester C.]

While this is one of worst examples of cooperation misconduct I have ever heard about in my life sadly I don’t think there is anything that we can do to punish these evil bastard. Yes, they committed a great evil but they did it with the blessing of the government so all of their actions were legal therefore they are untouchable. The only thing we can do as consumers is punish Bayer by not supporting Beyer but therein lies another moral Delia. Is it ethical to punish a today’s Bayer employees for something their predecessors did twenty years ago. In any case this is a sad, sad story.

[Crowley]

how in the name of hell do the executives at Bayer sleep at night?

[stealthwise]

Damn, well, I'm effectively boycotting any and all Bayer products ASAP.

[stealthwise]

I dug a bit further and apparently the settlement for this case was about $640 million among about 6000 hemophiliacs.

If those numbers are accurate, that means about $106,666 for each infected individual or their surviving family. That's a disgustingly low amount of money to "make up" for what took place.

[Lester C.]

Same way Americans sleep at night for the slaughter of Native Americans, having slaves, etc, and that is by not accepting the responsibility of your forbearers actions. If I sound like I’m being distant, cold and a prick I’m not. Around the same time Ryan White contracted aids from his blood transfusion I was having my own blood transfusion and his story could have easily been mine. The sad fact is that we are two decades too late to punish all those responsible for what Bayer did. If you really want to get proactive in Corperations and the United States accepting responsibility for its actions then you need involve yourself in the political process. Simply paying your taxes and or posting on a messege board isn’t enough if you want affect true change.

[Noah Johnson]

Ah, the morality of the marketplace.

[Buzz Dixon]

Two decades? That's not news, that's history. They got caught, they got punished, the people responsible are possibly dead themselves by now. We've got more immediate concerns to deal with.

[Crowley]

really because this is the first i've heard of it...

[Oracle_0128]

Maybe they should be the decision making powers that be at Bayer up to the same judicial system anyone else would have to face that knowingly infected someone with HIV.

Money...yeah sure it hurts. The companies pockets grew lighter and all of us will flip the bill when a bottle of damn aspirin skyrockets to $10 a bottle.

But freedom...or rather the lack of....would definitely show those bastards that what they did was wrong!

[Indefatigable]

What the hell does the country have to do with this?

[fuaak]

What the hell does the country have to do with this?
The "FDA OK'd it" part, that's what.

[Indefatigable]

The "FDA OK'd it" part, that's what.The FDA is not the United States.

[fuaak]

The FDA is not the United States.
It's a part of the government, which means that in every way that matters to this discussion, yes it is (doubly so in a democracy, where the entire nation is responsible if something like this happens).

[Ian Boothby]

The FDA is not the United States.

They enforce the laws of the United States so they're as much the United States as the police or the army.

[Lester C.]

Two decades? That's not news, that's history. They got caught, they got punished, the people responsible are possibly dead themselves by now. We've got more immediate concerns to deal with.
While it’s true that Bayer was forced to pay out money to the individuals they knowingly murdered, for the sake of greed, the bastards that made that happened retired as multimillionaires and are living in the lap of luxury somewhere forever untouchable unless you believe in an afterlife. A sad of fact that we all have to face sooner or later is that sometimes evil triumphs over good and the bastards, more times than we would like to think, get away with it. In these situations it’s best to just let it go otherwise it will continue to eat you up inside.

[Buzz Dixon]

While it’s true that Bayer was forced to pay out money to the individuals they knowingly murdered, for the sake of greed, the bastards that made that happened retired as multimillionaires and are living in the lap of luxury somewhere forever untouchable unless you believe in an afterlife. A sad of fact that we all have to face sooner or later is that sometimes evil triumphs over good and the bastards, more times than we would like to think, get away with it. In these situations it’s best to just let it go otherwise it will continue to eat you up inside.
Agreed. Using the past as an example of what to watch out for and avoid in the future, good. Dwelling on something that is over and done with, not good.

[fuaak]

Agreed. Using the past as an example of what to watch out for and avoid in the future, good. Dwelling on something that is over and done with, not good.
"Over and done with"?

[Dreadstar]

I'm not sure the repeated assertion of "the FDA allowed" is meaningful here. 2 decades ago, did the FDA have the power to order a company to destroy their medications? They could certainly stop production in the US and stop distribution in the US, but I think that's as far as they could take it.

The further thing about Bayer asking for the authorities to "keep things quiet" might be more damning *IF* someone can point out to me that Bayer hid their culpability in the matter from the patients in the US that contracted HIV.

The final thing is that while Bayer may have developed this drug in the US (and I'm not even sure that that's true from this report) Bayer itself is a German company.

Bayer did a horrible thing and should be taken to task by the proper authority. I'm just really unsure that the US is that authority in this instance.

[Buzz Dixon]

"Over and done with"?
In the sense that the specific offense was exposed, prosecuted, and legally compensated for 20 years ago. You (rhetorical) got something new that Bayer has allegedly done, let's hear about it. Otherwise this one is a done deal other than as a reminder not to do it again.

[fuaak]

In the sense that the specific offense was exposed, prosecuted, and legally compensated for 20 years ago. You (rhetorical) got something new that Bayer has allegedly done, let's hear about it. Otherwise this one is a done deal other than as a reminder not to do it again.
When the punishment doesn't fit the crime? I beg to differ. As long as any one of the people responsible lives as a free man, there's plenty of reason to be upset about this.

France (one of the recipients of the HIV-laced medicine) had all the related people that fell under their jurisdiction jailed, and for a very good reason. This was effectively cold-blooded, premeditated murder. One shouldn't get away with murder with a fine, not in a just society.

[Evan Waters]

Huh.

And not too long ago I was arguing with people about the plausibility of the storyline in THE CONSTANT GARDENER.

[MacQuarrie]

Yeesh.

One of my close friends back in high school was a hemophiliac. He passed away from AIDS a few years ago. He got it from tainted blood products. I'm nto sure exactly what it was, coagulant or platelets or what, but I remember hearing at the time that a very high percentage of the hemophiliacs in the US were HIV-positive as a result of similar circumstances.

This sucks a lot.

[Noah Johnson]

One shouldn't get away with murder with a fine, not in a just society.
Ah, but nobody did anything. A corporation did something, but corporations, as we're frequently reminded, have no moral obligation except to their stockholders.

I mean, the entire POINT of a corporation, the reason they were invented, is to diffuse responsibility so nobody's directly liable for anything. And yes, on a financial level, that's great, encourages innovation, et cetera et cetera.

But then it turns out you can just go ahead and start killing motherfuckers, and you're still not in trouble. It's not like this is the first time that theory's been tested.

[Cam63]

how in the name of hell do the executives at Bayer sleep at night?

Lying on their side snuggled up to huge wads of cash.

[Crowley]

In the sense that the specific offense was exposed, prosecuted, and legally compensated for 20 years ago. You (rhetorical) got something new that Bayer has allegedly done, let's hear about it. Otherwise this one is a done deal other than as a reminder not to do it again.
what's with the urge to sweep this under that rug?

do you TRULY believe this isn't still going on? This is something EVERYONE should know about.

[Cam63]

Yup and the more that's revealed, the better.

[Crowley]

speaking of which... None of the executives were EVER brought up on criminal charges. The matter was settled civily.

these are murderers who got away with it.

[Spike-X]

speaking of which... None of the executives were EVER brought up on criminal charges. The matter was settled civily.


Not that there's anything 'civil' about letting Fat Rich C*nts get away with murder.

[Crowley]

i certainly agree... but of course i'm referring to civil court and not criminal court.