The price of a life

I recently read a very interesting book. The book was about an ordinary mans legal battle against a big corporation (Proctor & Gamble in this case). I don't know how many know of TSS - Toxic Shock Syndrome - which is a very serious disease often contracted by menstruating women through use of tampons. If misdiagnosed or left uncontrolled, it can turn fatal in just a couple of days.

In mid 70's P&G came out with a new brand of tampons 'rely'. The tampon industry had been around since the 40's and most of the market share belonged to Tampax. P&G, a late entry in the market decided to come out with something new and different in order to make a grab at the market share, and thus 'rely' was born. Rely's composition was different from that of the ordinary tampon of that time. And there in lay the problem.

A tampon goes in a region where few things have the business of going. And in their haste to profit and grab a big chunk of the market, and in between aggressive advertising and free sample distribution, P&G kind of over looked that little fact. Couple of years later enough incidents of TSS started showing up to concern the heath authorities. Part of the problem was, it was a relatively new disease then. With symptoms like the flu, and with hardly any doctors knowing about it, women didn't get the treatment that they should have. And since most didn't know of TSS's connection to the tampon they were using they didn't discontinue the use of it even while sick.

One of the victims was a woman with two little children (her newest was just 6 months old then) who was using a tampon (rely) for the first time at the urging of her sister. 4 days into her period and she was dead. The book was written by her husbands lawyer on their case, and eventual victory, against P&G.

As any corporation would, P&G tried all it could to squash the case and the numerous other cases. They tried all legal (and otherwise) tactics possible to make it as hard as possible for the plaintiffs to carry on with the legal battle. Something they cant be blamed for, I mean everyone is in it to win, right? Whatever be their motive. They denied any prior knowledge of TSS and it's link to tampons (particularly their own brand), which the book states was a lie since the CDC & FDA had already expressed their own concerns about it, and not only that, but some of their own researchers and testers had done the same. What I found unforgiving was, however, their conntiued denial and their refusal to inform the public of the link. What I also find unforgivable was their 'buying' of researchers to prove the contrary all the while women were dying of TSS. In the end, P&G lost this case and had to pay punitive damages for the death of a woman (the book goes on to mention how big a victory that was since the jury in Iowa at that time didnt really consider the services provided by housewives of much monetary value).

So what triggered this post then? Well, this:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/10/23/pip.china.pollution/index.html

We all know of CSR - Corporate social responsibility. It is the 'in' thing in the corporate world these days. But really, what has changed over the decades? Business still think of themselves as first, putting bottom line before lives of many . That is human nature as well. It about 'numero uno'. Maybe the survival of the fittest has programmed us in a way that we are bound to think of ourselves at first, then of anyone else. But while going about our daily lives, our social values have incorporated enough of a sense of duty in us that we avoid the actions that we know would bring harm to others. Then how does a business entity eat away from that value instilled in us?

What is a business anyways? It is not a faceless thing. It is not an entity in itself either. It is a group of people. It is you, if you have even a single share of that corporation. It is you, if you are a lender to that corporation, it is you, if you work for that corporation. A business is people. We people. Then how is it, that in our hunger to make sure that we reap the maximum benefit possible, that the share prices don't fall even by a cent, that there is profit quarter after quarter, we forget that in the end nothing is more valuable than life.

I know things are changing. Thanks to the media and tightening laws, companies are getting rewarded for their ethical acts. But with the corporate net being so widespread, confusing and global it is hard not to believe that more action is needed. Sitting here, it is easy for me to read and forget about those people in China. I mean, how do I care if they are dying? It is the responsibility of their own government and their own companies, not mine. I am in no way responsible for their heath and safety. But the fact is, in my own way I am. An article in businessweek or wall street journal in August exposed how lax, unsafe and environment unfriendly the corporations in china were. Those same corporations that supply to the companies that then sell their products here in the U.S.

So maybe every time I run after a huge bargain at Wal-mart or Target, maybe I am taking a week or a year off a man's life in some village in china. For all I know I might be taking a year of a child's life in a sweat shop somewhere in the world. If you ask me to be honest and say if I will stop doing that? I don't know. Right now, I know I can't. I don't go to walmart or target anymore (mostly coz they are no where near where I live). I can't because for one, I can't afford not to buy the cheapest right now, but the other reason is that it is not possible to totally avoid those things, such is the level of penetration in the market.

So, if people really care, it will be their job to ensure that humanity retains its meaning. No business will ever do that, for no business has a soul or a heart. It is the people who make it that have the heart, soul and the head. It is time that we start making use of all three.