Read Online Overload Flux by Carol van Natta - Free Book Online Page A

launched into a rapid-fire lecture on the background of how pharmaceuticals were developed, produced, and distributed, a process that turned out to be much more convoluted than Luka had imagined.
    “It’s a matter of liabilities and loopholes,” said Tewisham. “The pharma industry as a whole is obscenely profitable, so as you might imagine, competition is fierce. Pharmas prefer not to pay damages if their latest wonder cure turns out to be worse than the disease, so they’ve learnt to take advantage of every corporate ownership loophole in Concordance and planetary law they can find. Plus they’ve invented some new dodges that are still being tested in the courts.”
    Tewisham stood and began striding back and forth, as if he were on the dais in front of a university lecture hall full of D-level students, instead of in a corporate researcher’s office full of displays, holos, and stacks of real paper.
    “No one company owns more than a part of the process, so if the problem turns out to be, for example, harmful side effects, only the development company can be sued, not the production, distribution, or marketing companies.” Tewisham’s path took him closer to Morganthur’s chair. “Unless you can prove someone’s in bed with someone else.” He winked saucily at her. Her bland expression didn’t change.
    “Couldn’t you sue the owners of all the companies?” asked Luka.
    “Certainly, if you could find them and prove the relationship. Legally, the companies are independently owned and directed. Only shortsighted or greedy companies try to save money by keeping more than one function in-house. Profits to the real owners are funneled through silent partnerships, subcontracts, royalty payments and licenses, shell corporations, and so forth. Do you recall a popular drug called Pelderammodox? It was an antiemetic, used to treat nausea, that rendered long-term users sterile. It devastated sperm counts and destroyed female ova altogether.”
    Luka nodded. “Top galactic news trend for months.”
    “Just so. The pharma development company was unwound in the first year, and the production company was next, but twenty years later, Concordance prosecutors are still uncovering individual owners to this day. That was for a high-profile case. If the problem is less damaging, perhaps turning your hair the same delightful shade of blonde that Mairwen—may I call you that?—wears to such advantage, even the hungriest of lawyers will look for easier commissions.”
    Tewisham seemed surprised when his flirting got no visible response from Morganthur. He was probably used to seducing women with his accent alone. Luka was mildly pleased he could tell she found Tewisham’s overtures tedious.
    An idea sparked in Luka’s mind. “What about counterfeits?”
    “Ah, now you’re sailing in blackmarket seas. Most drugs can be back-engineered or cloned eventually. Rival companies do it regularly. It’s generally only a matter of time, and not much time, before they begin eroding profits. The costs to trace the clone back to the blackmarketer’s temporary laboratory are prohibitive. Consequently, pharmas flood the market with new product as quickly as possible to skim the profits, then drop the price to make it less profitable for rivals and blackmarketers to undercut them. It’s an arms race, really—the faster to market, the higher the profits. I’d wager every pharma company in existence has a blackmarket mole or two.”
    “What if the clone is bad, and causes the bad side effect?”
    Tewisham plopped himself in his chair and steepled his fingers. It looked like a practiced gesture.
    “Nobody wins. It’s hardly worth the original producer’s expense of recalling the drug, because the damage is done.” He gave them both a wicked, piratical grin. “Sadly, greedy and sloppy blackmarketers crop up every year.”
    “You approve of blackmarketers?” Luka asked in surprise.
    “They’re the only real check we have on