Liverwurst, Hubris and Greed

The recent national recall of contaminated Boar’s Head liverwurst was disturbing on several levels. First, the listeria outbreak wasn’t just bad luck. The FDA investigation noted that sanitation violations at that plant had been present and incompletely corrected for several years. How could that happen? Several score unsuspecting customers were significantly sickened and almost 10 died.

Second, the consequences to the company were substantial. The liverwurst production plant was permanently closed, the company’s share price dropped about a third, and the Boar’s Head brand was severely compromised. I suspect many people will no longer buy any Boar’s Head product.

Third, I must note in passing that no delicatessen meats are healthy. They all are overly high in sodium and saturated fat, not to mention nitrites and other chemicals. So any use of such products should be small and occasional. But going forward I would avoid any Boar’s Head product whatsoever given their documented persistent failure to meet minimum safety standards.

Market Leaders’ Breach of Trust

Why would a market-leading company so violate the trust of its customers by allowing basic safety failures? Risk it all for pennies when you own the market and are minting millions for your shareholders? The risk clearly is harm to its customers and severe damage to its brand.

Or is it just complacency and sloppiness and general human frailty? Greed or hubris or both?  I don’t believe I know, but it is fascinating to contemplate and perhaps to enjoy a bit of schadenfreude in the process.

Just to remind us that the liverwurst scandal is not an aberration, I can readily think of two others that have stuck with me.

NE Compounding Tragedy

Consider the 2012 outbreak of fungal meningitis and other awful infections related to the New England Compounding Center. They were a highly profitably small compounding pharmacy that had large market share in injectable steroid products that were widely used for spinal and joint injections. The owners made tens of millions of dollars from their products.

Their “clean room” for vial preparation was contaminated with fungus, which was sometimes visible in the vials. More or less 100 people died and several hundred experienced severe and life-altering fungal infections from their products.  This was no accident. They chose not to run an actual clean room.  The principals in the firm received long jail terms.

Synthroid Corporate Malfeasance

Or, to go back further, consider the scandal about 1997 when Knoll pharmaceuticals, manufacturer of Synthroid (a brand name for the thyroid hormone levothyroxine) were found to have suppressed for six years the publication of a study that showed that generic levothyroxine was as effective as their Synthroid, which was many times more costly.

I learned of the delay when reading the published study and was horrified. Knoll was subsequently bought by Abbott Labs. Imagine the irony when I (and all doctors) received a letter from Abbott in 2001 promising to get Synthroid certified by the FDA before it was removed from the market! It appeared Synthroid had major manufacturing problems and had never in fact been properly approved by the FDA! Again, violation of customer trust. Revel in the schadenfreude.

Greed or Hubris or Just Incompetence?

I am not sure of the moral of these stories. Perhaps it is that, for any person or entity that inhabits an enviable and profitable niche in our society where you yourself do really well by doing good, make sure you remember that you are privileged, not entitled, and had better keep the safety and welfare of your customers top of list.