Page 31 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 19

Economy

of the surface of corporate evils,
and the greed and selfishness of
mankind:

The Chisso Corporation
“The Chisso Corporation was once
a fertilizer and carbicle company,
and gradually advanced to a petro-
chemical and plastic-maker com-
pany. From 1932 to 1968, Chisso
Corporation, a company located
in Kumamoto Japan, dumped an
estimated 27 tons of mercury com-
pounds into Minamata Bay. When
Chisso Corporation dumped this
massive amount of mercury into
the bay, thousands of people whose
normal diet included fish from the
bay, unexpectedly developed symp-
toms of methyl mercury poisoning.
The illness became known as the and the government was behind the As of March 2001, over 10,000 indi-
“Minamata Disease”. industry, the entire process appeared viduals had received financial remu-
ethical. Chisso Corporation’s sales neration from Chisso to compensate
In 1907 the villagers of Minamata increased dramatically, partly due to them for the harm caused by the
convinced the founder of Chisso Chisso being the only manufacturer chemical release. By 2004, Chisso
Corporation to build a factory in of a primary chemical called D.O.P, Corporation had paid $86 million in
their town, hoping to benefit from a plasticizer (diotyl phthalate). Hav- compensation, and, in the same year,
the wealth of industrialization. The ing a monopoly on the chemical was the company was ordered to clean
owner, Jun Noguchi agreed to the a distinct advantage. Since Chisso up its contamination.[5] However,
development, but used the people Corporation was the main industry the incident remains controversial
from Minamata as simple factory in the small town, the town’s growth for not only the poisoning itself but
workers. The more elite positions, period from 1952 to 1960 paralleled also for the tactics that the com-
such as engineers and managers Chisso’s progress.” (Excerpted from: pany used to suppress the negative
were “imported” as he termed it, http://pcwww.liv.ac.uk/aquabiol/ aftermath.” (Sourced from: https://
from the finest universities, like To- mercury/minamata/minamatan- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chisso)
kyo University. By 1925, the Chisso otes_long.htm)
Corporation was dumping waste Pfizer Inc.
into Minamata Bay which had the “As a result of this contamination, “American pharmaceutical giant
side effect of destroying the fishing 2,265 individuals in the area were Pfizer Inc. and its subsidiary Phar-
areas. The theory behind Noguchi’s inflicted with what is now known macia & Upjohn Company Inc.
policy was to pay off the Minamata as Minamata disease. 1,784 of (hereinafter together “Pfizer”)
fisherman in exchange for damaging those victims died as a result of the have agreed to pay $2.3 billion, the
their fishing environment. Accord- poisoning and/or the disease. Those largest health care fraud settlement
ing to Eugene Smith’s interview of who were afflicted with the disease in the history of the Department
the people who lived in Minamata, developed skeletomuscular deformi- of Justice, to resolve criminal and
the company believed that it was ties and lost the ability to perform civil liability arising from the illegal
much cheaper to pay off the few motor functions such as walking. promotion of certain pharmaceuti-
people who were opposed to the Many also lost significant amounts cal products, the Justice Department
dumping, rather than implement of vision, as well as hearing and announced today.
an environmentally safe technique speech capabilities. Severe cases pre-
of waste removal. Therefore, since sented with insanity, paralysis, coma Pharmacia & Upjohn Company has
the villagers accepted this practice and then death within weeks of the agreed to plead guilty to a felony
through compensation of money, onset of symptoms. violation of the Food, Drug and

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