Let’s talk about the excellent @60Minutes/@washingtonpost investigation into the #chickenshitclub McKesson probe over its culpability in the opioid crisis. washingtonpost.com/investigations…
2. First off, I argue in my book that the Justice Dept has lost the will & ability to prosecute top corporate officers. This is a prime example.
3. It is not a problem only with Big Banks or stemming from the finl crisis. It began before the crisis and persists to today. It affects Big Pharma, industrials, retailers, tech, drug distributors—all giant corporations.
4. The story shows how broken our corporate law enforcement is. It seems to have never even occurred to the DOJ front office to prosecute high-level McKesson execs.
5. Banks' Compliance Depts are derided as the BPD: Business Prevention Dept. The Front Office is the PPD: Prosecution Prevention Dept.
6. On the DOJ's own terms, its corporate law enforcement is a failure—and this demonstrates why. The company says no one ever brought up indicting the company. That’s probably true! It doesn’t occur to them.
7. Sidenote: There's a concentration problem in our economy. There are only 3 major drug distributors. So even if they did consider indicting a corporation, they would fear disrupting the market. Even if this is BS from the company’s defense lawyers, the prosecutors believe it.
8. But back to why corporate law enforcement doesn't work. McKesson was a recidivist. Settlements don’t work to curb corporate malfeasance. 
9. And yet the next time around, the DOJ didn’t treat McKesson much tougher. It upped the fine but it was still chump change, just $150 million. That was barely more than what its CEO makes in a year.
10. After declining to pursue the fraud, the DOJ front office officials then revolve through the door to become corporate defense attys. Had they been too aggressive with executives, or had they risked a loss at trial, they would have had less attractive private sector oppties.
11. Someone should write a book about this. And maybe call it “The Chickenshit Club.” And then someone should buy it! Suitable as a holiday gift or for wrapping fish! amazon.com/Chickenshit-Cl… END
