When is the last time a company was SERIOUSLY threatened by the repercussions of doing something illegal in the US? When was the last time a company was fined/sued out of existence for something they were doing to average people?
EDIT: this was more in reaction to "still waiting on those Equifax checks" comment. Just give it another 10 years...
not for the firms that bring them: millions in fees & billing, ranging from the upfront certification efforts (riskier) to the payment & settlement (at this stage, risk-free and very lucrative)
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That’s because the purpose of “class action” lawsuits isn’t to provide relief to the harmed class (despite what many think). It’s to punish the company (financially) for their wrongdoing. It doesn’t always work out that way,[a] but that’s the idea.
The reason (supposedly) for not getting relief is that the injured class members can still file their own cases against the company with their own lawyers. But then you need to pay out-of-pocket for that lawyer and hope the judge not only sides with you, but awards cost in addition to the claimed damages.
Of course, there’s always the perverse incentive of the lawyers working for the class to take a bigger cut for themselves (“why would I take a $5 million payday when I could get $15 million instead?”). There’s also a push to settle because then they work less, but still get their payday.
[a]: Especially if the payout is less than they made harming the class
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/10/sacklers-who-made-11...
That said, I think you're arguing that if Purdue Pharma were to continue pushing opioids and the Sacklers continued to profit handsomely, that would be equivalent to them stopping now? Stopping them now isn't any sort of win?
The 235 Million in personal civil liabilities PLUS their losses from owning so much of the company.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-...
> 8 billion payout on 11 billion profit. That seems reasonable. Not all of the people using their drugs were being prescribed without good reason. > Purdue Pharma has agreed to plead guilty in federal court in New Jersey to a three-count felony information charging it with one count of dual-object conspiracy to defraud the United States and to violate the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and two counts of conspiracy to violate the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute. The criminal resolution includes the largest penalties ever levied against a pharmaceutical manufacturer, including a criminal fine of $3.544 billion and an additional $2 billion in criminal forfeiture. For the $2 billion forfeiture, the company will pay $225 million on the effective date of the bankruptcy, and, as further explained below, the department is willing to credit the value conferred by the company to State and local governments under the department’s anti-piling on and coordination policy. Purdue has also agreed to a civil settlement in the amount of $2.8 billion to resolve its civil liability under the False Claims Act. Separately, the Sackler family has agreed to pay $225 million in damages to resolve its civil False Claims Act liability.
The DOJ delivered a slap on the wrist just in time for the election so that they could claim a win on the opioid crisis.
I don't blame people in this thread for having zero confidence whatsoever in the "justice" system.
Is it okay to profit from the other people they've helped?
In any case Rhodes Pharmaceutical was started in 2007 by the Purdue family. It makes opioids too and should be shut down.