H-E-B and CVS Pay Civil Fines for Filling Prescriptions for Unlicensed Doctors
When pharmacies HEB and CVS are investigated for alleged illegal distribution of controlled substances in violation of federal law, they don’t go to jail. Instead, they are fined. Sometimes they are fined heavily. HEB and CVS were fined 2 million dollars in order to settle allegations that more than 170 prescriptions were filled for an unlicensed doctor. If this seems light, sometimes corporations are hit harder. When the dust settled following the 2008 financial crisis, many banks were fined severely: $13 billion for JP Morgan Chase, $16.65 billion for Bank of America. Almost always, corporations will pay these fines without an admission of guilt.
Corporations are not like people when it comes to criminal liability. In this H-E-B & CVS fiasco, if people like us—actual breathing people—sold controlled substances to unlicensed physicians or to anyone else, we would be indicted and facing felony prosecutions in federal and/or state courts. We would not be afforded the right to pay a civil fine and go on down the road.
Corporations as People?
Many people are outraged when they hear courts, lawyers, and legislators referring to corporations as “people.” This is usually because it sounds ludicrous and deceptive. And it makes some people really angry—mainly because it is obviously and transparently not true. They don’t breathe or drink water or sleep. It is called a “legal fiction.”
Constitutional Rights of Corporations
U.S. citizens enjoy many rights which are set forth in the Bill of Rights of the U.S Constitution. Over the years, Congress and judges have determined that corporations are “people” for the purposes of having some of the same legal rights and responsibilities. These rights include a Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure, and a Sixth Amendment right to jury trial, right to counsel, and speedy trial. Corporations also have a Fifth Amendment shield against double jeopardy, and a right to due process. Recently, in Citizens United[1], the U.S. Supreme Court determined that corporations have First Amendment privileges too, because corporations are groups of individuals. And this privilege encompasses the right to spend unlimited sums of money, because limiting money is limiting speech.
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[1] Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. 310 (2010).
