Immunity and Impunity: Corruption in the State-Pharma Nexus

Abstract

Critical criminology repeatedly has drawn attention to the state-corporate nexus as a site of corruption and other forms of criminality, a scenario exacerbated by the intensification of neoliberalism in areas such as health. The state-pharmaceutical relationship, which increasingly influences health policy, is no exception. That is especially so when pharmaceutical products such as vaccines, a burgeoning sector of the industry, are mandated in direct violation of the principle of informed consent. Such policies have provoked suspicion and dissent as critics question the integrity of the state-pharma alliance and its impact on vaccine safety. However, rather than encouraging open debate, draconian modes of governance have been implemented to repress and silence any form of criticism, thereby protecting the activities of the state and pharmaceutical industry from independent scrutiny. The article examines this relationship in the context of recent legislation in Australia to intensify its mandatory regime around vaccines. It argues that attempts to undermine freedom of speech, and to systematically excoriate those who criticise or dissent from mandatory vaccine programs, function as a corrupting process and, by extension, serve to provoke the notion that corruption does indeed exist within the state-pharma alliance. KeywordsState-corporate harm; mandated vaccines; informed consent; neoliberalism. Please cite this article as:

In the name of health and illness: An inquiry into Covid-19 vaccination policy in postsecondary education in Canada (published https://researchandappliedmedicine.com/revistas/vol1/revista6/vacunacion-covid-ingles.pdf)

“…About 50 years ago Foucault developed his theory of biopower, meaning a state the holds "power over life" and deploys "dividing practices" that operate through social control and surveillance (Foucault, 1975). Scholars working in this tradition have drawn attention to how a state-corporate nexus, specifically the relationship between big Pharma and the state, increasingly influences health policy (Rawlinson, 2017). Other scholars have argued that when "The Face Becomes a Carrier", i.e., mask wearing is mandated, state power can override other values on the justification that faces must be covered to protect the population from the threat we pose to one another, leading to the breakdown of the ethical relation to the Other, as "the more natural it seems to submit to control and surveillance by a centralized state that exists to secure the population against threats, the easier it becomes to see each other person as an incarnation of the threat that is the population, and the harder dialogue becomes" (Horton, 2021, p. 715).…”

Corruption as state -corporate crime: the example of the health sector in Greece

“…The interviewees also highlighted issues relating to the clinical assessment, the pricing and marketing of medicines. The practices of pharmaceutical companies mostly take place in grey areas at the borderline between legality and illegality and aim at the collaboration or tolerance of top political officials through practices of guided lawmaking, political capture and to cultivate a favourable political environment (Braithwaite 1984;Rawlinson 2017;Baker 2019). Τhοse practices largely escape the attention of the criminal law, even though they cause social harm and lead to high social costs.…”

Promises, Deceit and White-Collar Criminality Within the Theranos Scandal

“…Additionally, not only do developing companies see a limited amount of essential drugs for the treatment of ailments (Hartog, 1993), dangerous drugs are often peddled in developing countries (Van Der Geest, 1982). Furthermore, as Rawlinson (2017) noted, a “state-pharma nexus” often inhibits the ability of citizens to receive accurate information on pharmaceutical products. Regarding many vaccines, compulsory state policies not only force consumers to use these products, these policies also limit dissent and the spread of information regarding potential dangers.…”