"A Terrible Irony": Penn State Selects Merck CEO to Investigate Sex-Abuse Case
Following allegations of sexual abuse raised against football coach Jerry Sandusky, Penn State has hired Merck CEO Kenneth C. Frazier, a Penn State alum and lawyer, to investigate the scandal. Prakash lays out the parallels between the two scandals:
Merck had a legal duty to warn patients that Vioxx could cause heart attacks, and Penn State had at the very least an ethical duty to tell police that Jerry Sandusky may be a pedophile. Neither institution fulfilled its responsibilities with devastating consequences for those on the outside.
Different sites and different types of scandals, but central to both is the power of money to corrupt. "At Merck, they were protecting a multibillion dollar drug. At Penn State, they were protecting a football program that brings in $70 million per year."
Read more about what makes the choice of Frazier a "terrible irony."
Previously on Biopolitical Times:
- Big Publisher Shills for Big Pharma
- Drug Companies and Corruption
- Life Saving Devices May Put Your Life in Danger