MiaMJun 1, 2023
Qasim Rashid, Esq.

The billionaire Sackler Family and Purdue Pharma will pay $6B & serve 0 prison for knowingly selling horrendous amounts of OxyContin while claiming it was non-addictive—resulting in 564K+ American deaths by Opioid overdose.😓 And that doesn’t even begin to contemplate the global harm and deaths the Sackler family caused.

And for all that suffering and atrocity—not one person will go to prison. Not one.

“If the penalty for a crime is a fine, then that law only exists for the poor.”

Jun 1, 2023 at 6:40pmMastodon for iOS
Show threadDarwin WoodkaJun 1, 2023
@QasimRashid Fuck the Sacklers
Show threadRevJeberJun 1, 2023
@QasimRashid
In truth, all laws exist to protect the interests of the ruling class.
Show threadken TaylorJun 1, 2023
@QasimRashid Of course. The Billionaire Rick Scott didn't go to prison and was allowed to sell his stock in a company he led that was convicted of the largest medicare and medicaid fraud in US history. He made by selling his stock than he was penalized and started two new companies, one that heavily promoted oxycotin sales.
Show threadken TaylorJun 1, 2023
@QasimRashid By not going to prison he gets elected to end medicare (since he can't cheat it) and disallow lower drug costs (since he profits from higher costs.
What am I missing? Seems to be the bigger the theft the lesser the punishment.
Show threadWendy LadyJun 1, 2023
@QasimRashid how many poor people are in prisons/jails for distribution of the very product that the Sacklers created an addiction for?
Show threadJeffrey J. DeanJun 1, 2023
@QasimRashid For all recorded history, the rich have treated fines as license fees.
Show threadspafJun 1, 2023
@QasimRashid I should note for anyone reading this -- the Purdue Pharma organization has NO, repeat NONE, relationship or connection with Purdue University.
Show threadLAF and LOVEJun 1, 2023
@QasimRashid And they go on being the darlings of Palm Beach society. We should rename the Island Rikers South with no locks and just trendy bars.
Show threadEarthOneJun 1, 2023
@QasimRashid And DOJ corruption continues.
Show threadExtinction (our fate)Jun 1, 2023
@QasimRashid It would be really unfortunate if all the family members of their victims were to kettle them and push them off a high cliff into the sea.
Show threadChris TurnbowJun 1, 2023
@QasimRashid
The fact is, Purdue Pharma did nothing wrong. It CANNOT do anything wrong, as it IS NOT A PERSON.
The Sacklers, and those who enabled this scheme to go forward, OTOH, ought damn well to be in jail...
Show thread🥥 Tucker Carlson's Nuts 🥥Jun 1, 2023
@cturnbow @QasimRashid 🥥 Per Willard "Mitt" Romney, #corporations are people, my friend. 🥥
Show threadChris TurnbowJun 4, 2023
@JStatePost @QasimRashid
That is indeed the bullshit legality we are living with (or dying by, all too often)...
Show threadTravisJun 1, 2023
@QasimRashid if corporations are people, why can’t the corporation (aka the board) go to jail?
Show threadJohn BreenJun 1, 2023
@QasimRashid The way I read it expressed once is :
"A corporation has no soul to damn, no body to beat".
If all they lose is corporate money, and no responsible individuals who actually have bodies and "souls" are held accountable, that's not a punishment, nor justice. It's just the cost of doing business.
Show threadBruce Heerssen Jun 1, 2023
@QasimRashid
Meanwhile, there are people doing life sentences for selling a few grams of heroin.
Show threadDavid H. McCoyJun 1, 2023

@QasimRashid

Just imagine if the addicts were not hapless, sick individuals from good families in America’s heartland, but were, instead, lazy, low moral,inner city, junkie, thugs.

You wouldn’t even have the fine.

Show threadstevenrayJun 1, 2023
@QasimRashid profoundly sad and also predictable. The rich don’t do prison. Except if you’re Elizabeth Holmes.
Show threadSal De GustoJun 1, 2023
@QasimRashid I’m sure the stern wording of the judgment has given them pause.
Show threadAlper Çuğun-GscheidelJun 1, 2023
@QasimRashid Americans seem to have enough guns to deal out whatever they think is justice.
Show threadMrShoggothJun 1, 2023
@QasimRashid - Read a great book about that family, “Empire of Pain.” There is not one of them (over the age of 40) who shouldn’t go away forever.
Show threadKris SamselJun 1, 2023
@QasimRashid corporations are people. According to dumbass Supreme Court justices. Citizens United ruling. Justice system only railroads the masses. Not billionaires. Biden doing a bang up job adding Supreme Court justices?…🔥 2nd revolution worth it? 💩
Show threadC0ppertopJun 1, 2023
@QasimRashid
I’ll bet that they’re spending a fortune on bodyguards now.
I wouldn’t want to be a soft target for the rest of my life, would you?
Show threadBuster McNuttJun 1, 2023

@QasimRashid

In this case, I recommend vigilante justice.

Show threadJeffJun 1, 2023
@QasimRashid “If the penalty for a crime is a fine, then that law only exists for the poor.”
I think all crimes that result in profit should have penalties that exceed those profits.
Otherwise it's just the cost of doing business.
Show threadKatiameJun 2, 2023
@QasimRashid They are nothing more than drug dealers and should be treated as such.
Show threadTracellaJun 2, 2023
@QasimRashid Totally!!
Show threadArunmozhiJun 2, 2023
@QasimRashid If this is about the recent ruling. Then “not one person will go to prison” might be a bit early to conclude.

Because the recent ruling stops only civil cases from being brought on the family, criminal cases are still possible.

I am not sure if someone will take up criminal charges. But the ruling doesn’t prevent it.
Show threadFull Metal AccountantJun 2, 2023
@QasimRashid
Less than $11k per victim. Seems fair. 🙄
Show threadSokianJun 2, 2023
@QasimRashid Crime is a social construct
Show threadConcerned CitizenJun 2, 2023
@QasimRashid Unfuckingbelievable...
Show threadAli Van ZeeJun 2, 2023
@QasimRashid @QasimRashid It’s disgusting. My brother-in-law, Dr Art Van Zee was the first to bring the case to #Congress and the subject of Barry Meier’s brillian book, #painkiller. Also the subject of Beth Macy’s groundbreaking book #Dopesick HBO also featured him on in their series #CrimeOfTheCentury #Oxycontin took #purduepharma from a $200M company to $2B via #pillmills and corrupt md’s. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-19/the-small-town-doctor-taking-on-the-sackler-family/10910916
The small-town doctor taking on the billionaire family blamed for America's opioid crisis

In the late 1990s, Art Van Zee noticed reports of addictions to a powerful new prescription painkiller, OxyContin. Now, his town's humble community medical centre has become an unlikely rallying point for legal action against the manufacturer — and it could be the biggest class action America has ever seen.

ABC News
Show threadPetesmom *has moved*Jun 2, 2023
@QasimRashid
Just a reminder: the FDA approved it and everyone knew it was an OPIOID. There needs to be a shit ton more focus on the FDA as this never would have happened without them.
Show threadPhil SherryJun 2, 2023
@QasimRashid They should all be turned into addicts of their own products and forced to live on the streets, see how long they last.
Show threadJose Luis Cabrera SanchezJun 2, 2023
@QasimRashid you are right
Show threadRawwwbJun 2, 2023
@QasimRashid I often wonder how much human suffering would be prevented if we just did the obvious thing and legalized cannabis. It's clearly a much safer way to manage chronic pain. We should at least look into it.
Show threadThe Doctor Is InJun 2, 2023
@QasimRashid
Because, as far as the ruling elite are concerned, billionaires don't commit crimes, they just 'do business'. And, when that happens, it's inevitable that the little people will sometimes get hurt...
Show threadSteve WilliamsJun 2, 2023
@QasimRashid
There’s a long running debate about the cancelllation of great artists because of their debauchery in real life. I come down on the side of being able to hold two opposing opinions in my head:Art/Person. But when it comes to museums that have (and continue to) accept the Sackler’s blood stained money, my contempt is complete and unambiguous.
Show threadSteve WilliamsJun 2, 2023

@QasimRashid
“Dan Weiss, president and chief executive of the Met, said that “the Sacklers have been among our most generous supporters” and referred to “this gracious gesture” by the family.”

No apology. Just a compliment.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/09/new-york-met-art-museum-to-remove-sackler-family-name-from-galleries?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

New York’s Met museum to remove Sackler family name from its galleries

Art museum announces change in the wake of leading members of the family being blamed for fueling the deadly US opioids crisis

The Guardian
Show threadAshton BlackJun 2, 2023
@QasimRashid It's not a fine at all. It's a cost of doing business, to be figured into the cost/benifit analysis.
Truely amoral. Morals are for poor people.
Show threadpas un réseau socialJun 2, 2023

@QasimRashid
@22

i am reminded of something from audre lorde about dismantling the master's house ...

Show threadpaulJun 2, 2023

@QasimRashid

they are all the same. The industrial complexes. they may provide value but are nonchalant about the cost and too rich for jail.

When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators.

Regulatory capture is an economic theory that regulatory agencies may come to be dominated by the interests they regulate and not by the public interest.

but not the addicts it produced. nicely packaged to feed into the prison complex.

Show threadGlennJun 2, 2023
@QasimRashid The Sackler family is still worth billions. In a just universe they would have lost everything they own and been forced to live on the street like common drug addicts.
Show threadGreg Scallan Jun 2, 2023
@QasimRashid that settlement is only for civil lawsuits and has nothing to do with criminal prosecution, so they can still go to jail. If the government did not settle, they would not see a penny due to bankruptcy, so this $6B is likely the best we could hope for helping those affected
Show threadMyOpinionJun 2, 2023
@QasimRashid This family should be rounded up and placed in jail for life.
Show threadIt's Just Jenn 🏳️‍⚧️Jun 2, 2023
@QasimRashid@mastouyytuoyyúdon.sociayyjyyyyl %/
Show threadMysticalWolfJun 5, 2023
@QasimRashid That's exactly what it's for. The system itself is for the poor, not the rich.
Show threadAdam Christian SmithJun 5, 2023
@QasimRashid And no average person that was affected by their poisons will get a dime of that money.