The excessive use of so-called "confidential" business information is being used today to avoid transparency and legal responsibility in both the chemical and biotech industries. Pharmaceutical and chemical manufactures can claim “trade secret” without any justification and thereby automatically deny the government and the public access to public health and safety information pertaining to dangerous products even after people fall ill from exposures. Most disturbingly, this tactic has even been used to deny biotech workers rights to exposure records for healthcare.
Our current laws make it difficult to break this unethical chain of abuse. It is expensive and time-consuming to challenge these fraudulent companies in court.
Nevertheless we need to get tough with these companies who pollute and harm the public, but feign “trade secret”. Heavy and substantial fines should be levied on all who place unwarranted trade secret claims on dangerous products in an effort to hide pertinent information and avoid responsibility. The fines should be so substantial that it will send a distinct message throughout this industry: “No MORE FRAUD!”
Nevertheless we need to get tough with these companies who pollute and harm the public, but feign “trade secret”. Heavy and substantial fines should be levied on all who place unwarranted trade secret claims on dangerous products in an effort to hide pertinent information and avoid responsibility. The fines should be so substantial that it will send a distinct message throughout this industry: “No MORE FRAUD!”
See this interesting article about EPA’s problem with these types of abuses from pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturers.
Using fraudulent "trade secret" claims to deny people healthcare is unequivocally evil. Laws that protect corporations to abuse basic human right issues like this should be challenged! Corporate perpetrators should be dealt with using a heavy and hard hand.
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