Pros
ecutor: FedEx Knew Suicide Linked to Illegal Pharmacy
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/drug-trafficking-allegations-fedex-head-trial-39809950
Who else can the DEA blame for a drug related death… prescriber… pharmacy…. drug wholesaler… FedEx… maybe the INDIVIDUAL who is taking/abusing the substance ?
FedEx delivered packages containing illegal prescription drugs for internet pharmacies even after it noticed that authorities were cracking down on the businesses and was told that one had shipped drugs to a woman who committed suicide, prosecutors said Monday as a trial began over drug trafficking charges against the shipping giant.
FedEx knew that drugs in millions of packages it delivered over a decade were illegally prescribed but shipped them anyway because it did not want to lose millions of dollars in revenue to rival UPS, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Hemann said during his opening statement.
“They faced a choice, and the choice is to stop or go, and time and time again, they went,” Hemann said at the trial in San Francisco.
The government plans to rely on FedEx’s emails to make its case.
FedEx has denied the charges and says it only shipped what it believed were legal drugs from pharmacies licensed by states and registered with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
In her opening statement, FedEx attorney Cristina Arguedas said the company helped investigators crack down on the two pharmacies that prosecutors say were involved in the scheme and that it was never told by the DEA not to ship for a customer.
“If FedEx was picking up from a pharmacy that was shut down by the DEA and reopened, it had a registration issued by the DEA,” she said.
Arguedas contended that a DEA agent who emailed FedEx in 2006 about the suicide did not want the company to do anything about the pharmacy that shipped the drugs, citing an ongoing investigation of the business.
The exchange was “emblematic” of the partnership between the DEA and FedEx, Arguedas said.
The trial — nearly two years in the making — is unusual because of the government’s decision to bring drug charges against a package delivery company and for the lack of a settlement.
UPS paid $40 million in 2013 to resolve similar allegations that arose from a yearslong government crackdown on internet pharmacies that ship drugs to customers without valid prescriptions.
The stakes are high for Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx. No FedEx officials are facing prison time, but the charges carry a potential fine of $1.6 billion.
In the early 2000s, prosecutors say, FedEx began conspiring with two internet pharmacy organizations to ship powerful sleep aids, sedatives, painkillers and other drugs to customers who had not been physically examined by a doctor.
The crux of the government’s case is that FedEx knew the drugs were illegal and headed for dealers and addicts but delivered them anyway. Company drivers expressed safety concerns that FedEx trucks were being stopped on the road by online pharmacy customers demanding packages of pills, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
“It was like ‘The Walking Dead’ your honor in some places,” Hemann said, describing the customers.
FedEx is charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to launder money and other counts.
The trial could last into August before a ruling by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer, who will decide the case.
Filed under: General Problems
My assumption would be the dog-sniffing beagles or other breeds like they use in airports.
Without opening every single parcel for inspection, how would a common courier like Fed Ex know if the parcel contained Norco 10 tablets versus a tube of Boudreaux’s Butt Paste or Lipitor 20 mg tablets? Our tax dollars at work folks.
This is absolutely the most ridiculous, trumped-up charges I think I’ve ever read about. Are they friggin serious? This is nothing but a huge money-grab by the good, ole DEA. Maybe they should go after the delivery trucks that delivered alcohol to the liquor stores that sold the alcohol to the ones who chose to drink and drive. Or how about the company that made the tires that the Fed Ex trucks were equipped with? If it wasn’t for the tires on the trucks ….
This would be laughable if it wasn’t going to hurt so many people (and, yes, it will hurt many who are currently employed at Fed Ex). My husband works for Fed Ex (not as a driver but in the IT Dept.). A $1.6 billion fine is likely to put many employees out of job. Fed Ex is also one of our main sources of employment in our small, rural town. Seriously, I’ve just about had it with Big Brother.
heres a p[oint I read about 2 years ago in a commentore,,,sometimes,,,coroner and thee actual person choosing death to stop physical pain via death,,,do NOT want it to look like a suicide,thus no note,,,,because……no life insurance policy will be paid out for suicides,,,,now there a thought,,,,mary
Thanks to the people who take our medicines. May you be prosecuted and shut down!