Wal-Mart is a global institution. With a quick change in it's policies it can create major global impact whether that be good or bad. Wal-Mart has enormous impact by having 1.9 million associates, over 200 million customers, and a astounding 10 percent of all retail spending that takes place in its stores worldwide. All of this is well documented, giving the Wal-Mart world a major stake in its responsibility to all of the global ills. Wal-Mart drastically changed the global business landscape through it ruthless focus on price. This has become their doctrine.
Doctrine (Latin: doctrina) is a codification of beliefs or "a body of teachings" or "instructions", taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system.
For Wal-Mart, price-availability-choice, this is the belief structure of its patrons. They expect a great value and a low price. Quality is not necessarily the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of Wal-Mart. But, people or industry can become brain washed as to what value is based on the mass appeal.
Often doctrine specifically refers to a religious dogma as it is promulgated by a church, but not necessarily: doctrine is also used to refer to a principle of law, in the common law traditions, established through a history of past decisions, such as the doctrine of self-defense, or the principle of fair use, or the more narrowly applicable first-sale doctrine. In some organizations, doctrine is simply defined as 'that which is taught', in other words the basis for institutional teaching of its personnel about its internal ways of doing business.
Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, ideology or any kind of organization, thought to be authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted or diverged from.
It is the 'not to be doubted, or disputed' that can sometimes get us all in trouble. Look at the Catholic Church for example. If it weren't for Martin Luther and his thesis nailed to the doors of the church or Galileo and his discoveries as precidents for doubt and dispute, and the list goes on, we could still be living in the dark ages. And they do still try. But, I digress.
Charles Fishman, author of the bestselling book The Wal-Mart Effect says, "If Wal-Mart is serious about sustainability, it can have an incredible impact on how the economy operates,". How could one store have such an impact? Well here are a few amazing stats that makes this one company a global retail institution:
94 percent: the number of Americans who live within 15 miles of a Wal-Mart.
62 percent: the number of Americans who live within 5 miles of a Wal-Mart store.
57 percent: Percent of American adults who shop at Wal-Mart every week.
127 million: Number of Americans who shop at Wal-Mart each week.
$6,778: Profit per employee at Wal-Mart. (1.9M +/- employees)
$180,000: Profit per employee at Microsoft. (63,564+/- employees)
$480,000: profit per employee at Exxon/Mobil. (106,100+/- employees)
Wal-Mart has been touting their major moves to be a more green and conscious company. While this is a great thing due to their enormous power on such a mass scale, is it real? We have dicussed at length the mob mentality of our society. The following of trends and such. We have also discussed the republican ways of by saying something enough times, whether it is truth or not, people will begin to believe it. With Wal-Mart, if they master this technique it can have major repercussions throughout the world.
Wal-Mart created what is called, the Personal Sustainability Project, or PSP. It began in 2007 to which its employees, primarily in the U.S., were asked to become more green. They were asked to become examples to their community and take steps that will benefit themselves, their community and the earth. Easy tasks include driving the speed limit to save on gas, cleaning up trash, quit smoking, switch to a reusable bottle, or turn off the tap when brushing one's teeth.
Wal-Mart sells a lot of cigarettes and bottled water, again I digress.
It's part of a company wide sustainability effort Wal-Mart launched in 2005. This campaign has seen the company do everything from pledging to double the efficiency of its truck fleet to pushing General Mills to shrink Hamburger Helper boxes by replacing crinkly noodles with straight.
"The program", says Fishman, "is an example of corporate America filling a role akin to churches and community organizations—and that's not a bad thing as long as it doesn't drift in the direction of being some kind of compulsion, it's wonderful."
Critics say that if Wal-Mart cared for making the world a better place, and the quality and sustainability of their employees lives they might think about starting with the paychecks, benefits, and their labor practices. Wait, that would directly cost the company money. Wal-Mart has been involved in numerous lawsuits over sex discrimination, anti-union tactics, mandatory overtime, and more. But some would say with an organization as large as this that goes without saying. What community with over 1.9 million people would NOT have these kinds of claims.
Being the largest retailer in the world, could they not also use their platform to change how their suppliers and manufacturers use slave labor sweatshops, and their dumping of pollutants and toxins in rivers, their massive production of inexpensive non-recyclable plastic products which are barged and shipped halfway around the world? What about the perfectly good products that get thrown out because they are now outdated and past regulatory time lines? What about the hundreds of thousands of employees who earn 7 dollars an hour at Wal-Mart with no health insurance, a car payment, a school loan payment and must support a family of five?
There is a large societal complaint of social justice before environmental justice. This is a company with many ills that must be addressed. Are they beginning their campaign through the fashioned phrases of our society vs the necessary needs of it employees survival? There are many small towns in America today that, due to Wal-Mart the character and small business communities have been closed and disappeared due to the locale of the superstore. Despite these complaints, this is the most shopped store in the country.
Although, Wal-Mart is known to do audits of all of their suppliers factories at least 4 times a year. They are testing both solar power and wind power potential and implementing hundreds of stores to be 0 energy, as well as initiating mandatory subtle changes with their suppliers relating to sustainability. Some would say, that it is changes like this that are putting some these companies out of business or pushing them to manufacture overseas.
Despite all of the good and the bad that this company can create we all must realize that there are three sides to every story. Their side, our perception, and the truth.
Thanks to:
Mother Jones
The Wal-Mart Effect
This, the 209th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!
(c)Copyright 2008 Doug Boggs
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Death of a Salesman?
When you think about it, Henry Paulson is a new kind of Willy Loman. If there has ever been a sales job done it has been Paulson with the ultimate. Arthur Miller would have had a heyday with this one.
In the famed play by Mr. Marilyn Monroe, he had an aging salesman who is no longer able to earn a living, and receives only a small commission. He is losing his mind and has attempted to kill himself by inhaling gas from the water heater, as well as crashing his car. He is obsessed with the post war interpretation of the American Dream.
In the new revised story we have Paulson making everyone else lose their minds, and rather than inhaling gas from the water heater we find ourselves swallowing an unbearable oil pricing as we listen to the news about South Dakota Congressman Bill Janklow getting off for murdering someone with his car. The obsession with the post war interpretation is now obsessed by the ongoing multi manufactured war and the failing interpretation of the American Dream.
Well, Henry Paulson makes a slightly different new Willy Loman than the original character, but he has created many just like Loman due to his sale of the century. Perhaps Paulson is more like Willy's brother, Ben. Ben is the wealthy and recently deceased older brother who only appears during Willy's day dreams and time shifts. Willy looks up to him with the highest regard. Perhaps Congress is more like Willy Loman, but let's move on. But, Miller's Willy worked for a man who only had to wake up in the morning, put his slippers on, and make phone calls, and had made millions of dollars. Willy assumes that one does not need to work or have ambition, but that all these men needed was a "smile and a shoeshine" to be successful. So, as the new kind of Willy, Paulson came from the failed companies that we, as the tax payer pansies (or is it ponzies?), are now bailing out. He had reached a dead end in his career. This new Willy was at the top of his game but the sky was falling in on him. His only recourse to his career and life was the ultimate sale, the ultimate con. The final closeout, pre-holiday sale. And that he did.
In a sense Paulson has just shown the American people that the American dream can still exist. He created a Trillion dollar sale within a few weeks at best to give him, Bush and cronies their job security and offshore padding to last many lifetimes. What a commission! With that said, again, perhaps Paulson is more of brother Ben. By making a few calls and doing a few meetings he has been able to take the retirement away from nearly everyone for two generations at least. He has bested some of the greatest salesman of the world with this one.
Congress sat back and ate up the whole story. Like the old Willy Loman. The new Willy, Henry Paulson, sold everyone on the idea that the world was going to crash if this money isn't put into the bad home loans immediately. Has any of the money that has already been distributed gotten there yet? No, the economy just gets worse. So, the new Willy, in another amazing sale, Paulson comes forward and states that he thought that the industry need stability first. I guess he forgot to mention that in the initial discussions. So, is the industry stable now?
This modern story of the famed play is taking different turns and we get to watch it play out. In the final scene of Miller's play we have fittingly a funeral scene, with everyone standing over Willy's grave. Biff who is Willy's oldest son, Happy who is the younger son, Linda who is Willy's wife, and their neighbors Charley and Bernard. The eldest son, at this point learns to accept himself for what is, Happy, the younger generation still wants to carry on Willy's dream of success in the city, and Linda explains that she can't cry. Despite all of the problems that Miller's Willy Loman had she had made the last payment on the house, ending with the words "We're free, we're free..."
In Paulson's rendition the ending is going to play out a bit differently. The older generation will remain the same and will resign themselves to what is, and the younger generation will also remain similar and try to carry out the American dream in the big city. This is America and always has been. But, for the character of Linda, there will be that day when there will be no more tears left but there will be no more house left to make a final payment on as the foreclosure took that dream away. That dream that Bush so proudly talked early on in his first term of helping American's get into a home and enjoy the American dream of home ownership. The pre-planning was happening and no one noticed.
With Paulson creating the new generation of Willy Loman, we give Paulson the great ironic line that Miller gave to Happy, who says it best. "All right, boy. I’m gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain. He had a good dream. It’s the only dream you can have-to come out number-one man.”
This, the 208th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!
(c)Copyright 2008 Doug Boggs
In the famed play by Mr. Marilyn Monroe, he had an aging salesman who is no longer able to earn a living, and receives only a small commission. He is losing his mind and has attempted to kill himself by inhaling gas from the water heater, as well as crashing his car. He is obsessed with the post war interpretation of the American Dream.
In the new revised story we have Paulson making everyone else lose their minds, and rather than inhaling gas from the water heater we find ourselves swallowing an unbearable oil pricing as we listen to the news about South Dakota Congressman Bill Janklow getting off for murdering someone with his car. The obsession with the post war interpretation is now obsessed by the ongoing multi manufactured war and the failing interpretation of the American Dream.
Well, Henry Paulson makes a slightly different new Willy Loman than the original character, but he has created many just like Loman due to his sale of the century. Perhaps Paulson is more like Willy's brother, Ben. Ben is the wealthy and recently deceased older brother who only appears during Willy's day dreams and time shifts. Willy looks up to him with the highest regard. Perhaps Congress is more like Willy Loman, but let's move on. But, Miller's Willy worked for a man who only had to wake up in the morning, put his slippers on, and make phone calls, and had made millions of dollars. Willy assumes that one does not need to work or have ambition, but that all these men needed was a "smile and a shoeshine" to be successful. So, as the new kind of Willy, Paulson came from the failed companies that we, as the tax payer pansies (or is it ponzies?), are now bailing out. He had reached a dead end in his career. This new Willy was at the top of his game but the sky was falling in on him. His only recourse to his career and life was the ultimate sale, the ultimate con. The final closeout, pre-holiday sale. And that he did.
In a sense Paulson has just shown the American people that the American dream can still exist. He created a Trillion dollar sale within a few weeks at best to give him, Bush and cronies their job security and offshore padding to last many lifetimes. What a commission! With that said, again, perhaps Paulson is more of brother Ben. By making a few calls and doing a few meetings he has been able to take the retirement away from nearly everyone for two generations at least. He has bested some of the greatest salesman of the world with this one.
Congress sat back and ate up the whole story. Like the old Willy Loman. The new Willy, Henry Paulson, sold everyone on the idea that the world was going to crash if this money isn't put into the bad home loans immediately. Has any of the money that has already been distributed gotten there yet? No, the economy just gets worse. So, the new Willy, in another amazing sale, Paulson comes forward and states that he thought that the industry need stability first. I guess he forgot to mention that in the initial discussions. So, is the industry stable now?
This modern story of the famed play is taking different turns and we get to watch it play out. In the final scene of Miller's play we have fittingly a funeral scene, with everyone standing over Willy's grave. Biff who is Willy's oldest son, Happy who is the younger son, Linda who is Willy's wife, and their neighbors Charley and Bernard. The eldest son, at this point learns to accept himself for what is, Happy, the younger generation still wants to carry on Willy's dream of success in the city, and Linda explains that she can't cry. Despite all of the problems that Miller's Willy Loman had she had made the last payment on the house, ending with the words "We're free, we're free..."
In Paulson's rendition the ending is going to play out a bit differently. The older generation will remain the same and will resign themselves to what is, and the younger generation will also remain similar and try to carry out the American dream in the big city. This is America and always has been. But, for the character of Linda, there will be that day when there will be no more tears left but there will be no more house left to make a final payment on as the foreclosure took that dream away. That dream that Bush so proudly talked early on in his first term of helping American's get into a home and enjoy the American dream of home ownership. The pre-planning was happening and no one noticed.
With Paulson creating the new generation of Willy Loman, we give Paulson the great ironic line that Miller gave to Happy, who says it best. "All right, boy. I’m gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain. He had a good dream. It’s the only dream you can have-to come out number-one man.”
This, the 208th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!
(c)Copyright 2008 Doug Boggs
Friday, November 28, 2008
Money...
Money is high on the consciousness of our global society at this time. What exactly does it mean for you? It holds a different grip on different personalities and societies throughout the world.
Some have it, and some don't. Some can get it, and some won't. Some hoard it, and some use it to help. Some prize it for the ways it buys their desires and some just let it go.
The news has made me think of the song, Money, many times over the past few months.
I find some irony in this as well. The incredible blues rock band named Pink Floyd found huge success and became one of the most notable bands in history. Their live shows became a pinnacle of the industry. Their writing, production, and musicianship was flawless.
They made a lot of money.
Their album "Dark Side of the Moon" is the first recording to which a pressing plant was created to press only this recording. It ran for many years, 24/7, putting out the album day and night, before it was revamped and continued to do the same for the CD. This has became one of the best selling albums of all time selling over 40 Million copies.
Pink Floyd parodied themselves in their famed movie, directed by Alan Parker and recording called "The Wall" to which they included lyrics from the album "Dark Side of the Moon" from this song, "Money". The Wall was hugely successful for the band.
In the movie, the setting is a school classroom, 1944, London. Pinky is siting with his head down writing while the headmaster is teaching. He is roaming the room when he notices Pinky.
"Ah, what have we here, laddy?" The grumpy old headmaster grabs the notepad from Pinky. "Mysterious scribblings? A secret code? Oh, Poems, no less?! Poems, everybody! The laddie recons himself a poet!" The class giggles.
He begins to recite the writings:
Money, get back
I'm alright Jack
keep your hands off of my stack
new car, caviar, four star day dream
I think I'll buy me a football team
"Absolute rubbish, laddie." He whips Pinky's hands with a small stick. "Get on with your work."
This scene and others in the movie exemplify the power struggle of those in the "know" and those "workers". Those with the power and those with none. The attempt of those in power to keep others down and forget about dreams.
...get on with your work.
Below is the video for the great song...Money, from the recording "Dark Side of the Moon".
This, the 207th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!
(c)Copyright 2008 Doug Boggs
Some have it, and some don't. Some can get it, and some won't. Some hoard it, and some use it to help. Some prize it for the ways it buys their desires and some just let it go.
The news has made me think of the song, Money, many times over the past few months.
I find some irony in this as well. The incredible blues rock band named Pink Floyd found huge success and became one of the most notable bands in history. Their live shows became a pinnacle of the industry. Their writing, production, and musicianship was flawless.
They made a lot of money.
Their album "Dark Side of the Moon" is the first recording to which a pressing plant was created to press only this recording. It ran for many years, 24/7, putting out the album day and night, before it was revamped and continued to do the same for the CD. This has became one of the best selling albums of all time selling over 40 Million copies.
Pink Floyd parodied themselves in their famed movie, directed by Alan Parker and recording called "The Wall" to which they included lyrics from the album "Dark Side of the Moon" from this song, "Money". The Wall was hugely successful for the band.
In the movie, the setting is a school classroom, 1944, London. Pinky is siting with his head down writing while the headmaster is teaching. He is roaming the room when he notices Pinky.
"Ah, what have we here, laddy?" The grumpy old headmaster grabs the notepad from Pinky. "Mysterious scribblings? A secret code? Oh, Poems, no less?! Poems, everybody! The laddie recons himself a poet!" The class giggles.
He begins to recite the writings:
Money, get back
I'm alright Jack
keep your hands off of my stack
new car, caviar, four star day dream
I think I'll buy me a football team
"Absolute rubbish, laddie." He whips Pinky's hands with a small stick. "Get on with your work."
This scene and others in the movie exemplify the power struggle of those in the "know" and those "workers". Those with the power and those with none. The attempt of those in power to keep others down and forget about dreams.
...get on with your work.
Below is the video for the great song...Money, from the recording "Dark Side of the Moon".
This, the 207th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!
(c)Copyright 2008 Doug Boggs
Thursday, November 27, 2008
The writing is on the wall...paper...
If we would simply slow down a bit we would be able to see the pieces of the puzzle playing out right in front of our eyes. On this Thanksgiving holiday, I am thankful for being able to see through the haze of deception and the smoke and mirrors.
For those that have not opened their eyes in quite a while it might behoove you to know that the world has a severe crisis on its hands and I'm not talking just about the economy. This was is in the nuclear arena. The North Koreans are selling their nuclear technology to anyone with the money to pay for it. This was discovered, ironically enough, when a white supremacist tried to buy the technology and bring it into the US for the big race war.
Now, with Obama going into office perhaps the country will be in a position to receive assistance from other countries instead of the turning away due to the Bush lies and deceit. It will take a bit of time to create the trust again. Since there were no weapons of mass destruction, and we invaded a sovereign country anyway, we have been hard pressed to find a country out there who gives a damn about us for quite some time. This was exemplified in the recent entry, "The Eyes Have It". That shows what the world thinks of our current lame duck. Now, and for quite some time, the world has been feeling that this lame duck is crying wolf for anything anymore. The world has watched as Bush turned away to their calls for environmental crisis solutions, aid to Darfur, and so many more...
Now, we have been hearing about pirates, and they are not in the Caribbean. This is happening today off the coast of Somalia.
So, is there writing on the wall? For the conspiracy theorist in me, I say yes. Just take a bit of time and think about it. Blackwater, just like Reagan and Oliver North were doing in the 80's, has created their own war to substantiate their future cash flow positions. On one side of the transaction they assist the pirate organizations to acquire the equipment they need for these acts, provide them training for the equipment and various weaponry, and strategies to the pirates in handling delicate hostile hostage situations. On the other side they create a need for a company like theirs to step in and act for the hard pressed American military. They are the international guns for hire. Blackwater secures more security work, receive commissions from the arms sales, and gives training and information to threatened countries and shipping companies. They stand to make hundreds of millions of dollars for this deceptive business tactic.
In a Nov. 24th article on the global news website Speigel Online - International we find just this taking place in front of our eyes. They write, "Blackwater is now receiving inquiries from dozens of new clients, mainly shipping companies and shipping insurance companies. All of them want the same thing: that Blackwater mercenaries guide their freighters and tankers safely past Somalia, through the world's most dangerous waters, the hunting grounds of bands of pirates armed with Kalashnikovs and grenade launchers, attacking anything that comes into their sights. In their flip-flops and inflatable plastic boats, they look more like small-time crooks, the sort hardly worth the effort of any coast guard vessel. And yet, in reality, these pirates are causing huge problems for the naval fleets of major powers -- and, of course, for the governments in places like Berlin, Paris and Washington."
Perhaps Blackwater will begin to help companies negotiate the ransom demands with these pirates in the future. This will become an added profit center for the firm as they conveniently orchestrate these multi-million dollar transfers.
Rather than the United Nations helping the Somali government get a better foothold on their country and assisting them with their crumbling economy, which would be getting to the root causes of this dilemma in the first place, they buy into the War, Inc. philosophy.
Perhaps, no one wants to see soldier's bodies dragged through the streets of Mogadishu again like back in 1994.
John Cusack released a movie this year, to which he co-wrote, produced and starred in, called "War, Inc." It is a dark political satire film directed by Joshua Seftel. The story is partly inspired by an article entitled "Baghdad Year Zero", from the famed writer of, "The Shock Doctrine", Naomi Klein. War, Inc. is an interesting film regarding just this type of scenario. A corporate firm orchestrates the arms deals, orchestrates the ransoms, orchestrates the battles, orchestrates the information to the press.
I feel that, as the Bush, Inc. administration has done in Iraq and Afghanistan, Blackwater is now doing in Somalia and other areas around the world.
If you allow yourself to believe in the conspiracies or what people may think as the ridiculous you will soon find that it is not that but it is the obvious.
Have a great and safe holiday!
This, the 206th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!
(c)Copyright 2008 Doug Boggs
For those that have not opened their eyes in quite a while it might behoove you to know that the world has a severe crisis on its hands and I'm not talking just about the economy. This was is in the nuclear arena. The North Koreans are selling their nuclear technology to anyone with the money to pay for it. This was discovered, ironically enough, when a white supremacist tried to buy the technology and bring it into the US for the big race war.
Now, with Obama going into office perhaps the country will be in a position to receive assistance from other countries instead of the turning away due to the Bush lies and deceit. It will take a bit of time to create the trust again. Since there were no weapons of mass destruction, and we invaded a sovereign country anyway, we have been hard pressed to find a country out there who gives a damn about us for quite some time. This was exemplified in the recent entry, "The Eyes Have It". That shows what the world thinks of our current lame duck. Now, and for quite some time, the world has been feeling that this lame duck is crying wolf for anything anymore. The world has watched as Bush turned away to their calls for environmental crisis solutions, aid to Darfur, and so many more...
Now, we have been hearing about pirates, and they are not in the Caribbean. This is happening today off the coast of Somalia.
So, is there writing on the wall? For the conspiracy theorist in me, I say yes. Just take a bit of time and think about it. Blackwater, just like Reagan and Oliver North were doing in the 80's, has created their own war to substantiate their future cash flow positions. On one side of the transaction they assist the pirate organizations to acquire the equipment they need for these acts, provide them training for the equipment and various weaponry, and strategies to the pirates in handling delicate hostile hostage situations. On the other side they create a need for a company like theirs to step in and act for the hard pressed American military. They are the international guns for hire. Blackwater secures more security work, receive commissions from the arms sales, and gives training and information to threatened countries and shipping companies. They stand to make hundreds of millions of dollars for this deceptive business tactic.
In a Nov. 24th article on the global news website Speigel Online - International we find just this taking place in front of our eyes. They write, "Blackwater is now receiving inquiries from dozens of new clients, mainly shipping companies and shipping insurance companies. All of them want the same thing: that Blackwater mercenaries guide their freighters and tankers safely past Somalia, through the world's most dangerous waters, the hunting grounds of bands of pirates armed with Kalashnikovs and grenade launchers, attacking anything that comes into their sights. In their flip-flops and inflatable plastic boats, they look more like small-time crooks, the sort hardly worth the effort of any coast guard vessel. And yet, in reality, these pirates are causing huge problems for the naval fleets of major powers -- and, of course, for the governments in places like Berlin, Paris and Washington."
Perhaps Blackwater will begin to help companies negotiate the ransom demands with these pirates in the future. This will become an added profit center for the firm as they conveniently orchestrate these multi-million dollar transfers.
Rather than the United Nations helping the Somali government get a better foothold on their country and assisting them with their crumbling economy, which would be getting to the root causes of this dilemma in the first place, they buy into the War, Inc. philosophy.
Perhaps, no one wants to see soldier's bodies dragged through the streets of Mogadishu again like back in 1994.
John Cusack released a movie this year, to which he co-wrote, produced and starred in, called "War, Inc." It is a dark political satire film directed by Joshua Seftel. The story is partly inspired by an article entitled "Baghdad Year Zero", from the famed writer of, "The Shock Doctrine", Naomi Klein. War, Inc. is an interesting film regarding just this type of scenario. A corporate firm orchestrates the arms deals, orchestrates the ransoms, orchestrates the battles, orchestrates the information to the press.
I feel that, as the Bush, Inc. administration has done in Iraq and Afghanistan, Blackwater is now doing in Somalia and other areas around the world.
If you allow yourself to believe in the conspiracies or what people may think as the ridiculous you will soon find that it is not that but it is the obvious.
Have a great and safe holiday!
This, the 206th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!
(c)Copyright 2008 Doug Boggs
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
More rights go wrong
The FDA has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to protecting us against unsafe drugs and medical devices, and the Supreme Court has just ruled against us having reasonable recourse if we fall victim to bad goods.
The High Court ruled that lawsuits brought by patients against medical companies need to be limited. Right now, this protection extends only to companies that make medical devices.
But, next up on the docket are the makers of prescription drugs.
It has become a dizzying display of smoke and mirrors—and you’re the one who caught in the middle. I’m going to try to walk you through it, but it’s circular logic at its worst. For the upcoming case that could determine whether or not drug makers will also be included in this liability protection, you have two old cronies pointing fingers at one another. The FDA says that they expect the drug companies to know their products and to label them accordingly with the appropriate warnings.
But the drug companies point back and say that the FDA provides a foundation of what should go on those drug labels—but also a cap on how much to put on there, as well. The FDA retorts that they don’t want the label warnings to cause an “overreaction,” and by placing a limit, they’re protecting against undue alarm.
When this is the type of stuff they’re arguing over, the only thing I know for sure is you will be hard-pressed to get a fair shake. And now, if you actually have a problem, the Supreme Court might take that shake away altogether.
The threat of litigation is the only thing that a patient has in his bag when it comes to trying to keep a company honest. And with this one form of recourse restricted, the drug companies will be even more out of control.
This leaves companies out there to play fast and loose with their research data. If the recent practices of the drug companies prove anything it’s that their goal is profit at any cost—even thousands of lives. We’re not talking about minor issues here—this is blatant fraud. But now they’ll have a fortress of protection from the highest court in the land.
And, incidentally, we already have a system to limit their liability—a jury system. If they aren’t at fault, the jury can rule in their favor—if the court doesn’t decide to strip us of that, too.
Well, the court can limit our recourse, but they can’t quiet or voices (at least not yet). Write to your senators and representatives and demand the same protection for the average Joe that they are doling out to the big corporations.
This, the 205th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!
(c)Copyright 2008 Doug Boggs
The High Court ruled that lawsuits brought by patients against medical companies need to be limited. Right now, this protection extends only to companies that make medical devices.
But, next up on the docket are the makers of prescription drugs.
It has become a dizzying display of smoke and mirrors—and you’re the one who caught in the middle. I’m going to try to walk you through it, but it’s circular logic at its worst. For the upcoming case that could determine whether or not drug makers will also be included in this liability protection, you have two old cronies pointing fingers at one another. The FDA says that they expect the drug companies to know their products and to label them accordingly with the appropriate warnings.
But the drug companies point back and say that the FDA provides a foundation of what should go on those drug labels—but also a cap on how much to put on there, as well. The FDA retorts that they don’t want the label warnings to cause an “overreaction,” and by placing a limit, they’re protecting against undue alarm.
When this is the type of stuff they’re arguing over, the only thing I know for sure is you will be hard-pressed to get a fair shake. And now, if you actually have a problem, the Supreme Court might take that shake away altogether.
The threat of litigation is the only thing that a patient has in his bag when it comes to trying to keep a company honest. And with this one form of recourse restricted, the drug companies will be even more out of control.
This leaves companies out there to play fast and loose with their research data. If the recent practices of the drug companies prove anything it’s that their goal is profit at any cost—even thousands of lives. We’re not talking about minor issues here—this is blatant fraud. But now they’ll have a fortress of protection from the highest court in the land.
And, incidentally, we already have a system to limit their liability—a jury system. If they aren’t at fault, the jury can rule in their favor—if the court doesn’t decide to strip us of that, too.
Well, the court can limit our recourse, but they can’t quiet or voices (at least not yet). Write to your senators and representatives and demand the same protection for the average Joe that they are doling out to the big corporations.
This, the 205th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!
(c)Copyright 2008 Doug Boggs
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