Product liability and copywriter hell

Recently I have felt as though I am living in a bubble a safe little UK bubble where I know about all the dangers of knife attacks, car accidents and asbestos related illness. And then you come across something that truly shocks you. Not in the way that the death of a rock star from an overdose does, or the discovery, in Norway, of a man with eight badly abused wives because sadly those things are not very shocking anymore. No, you need to go farther a field for truly shocking stuff.

I recently wrote about the product liability ramifications of the Chinese dairy industry scandal regarding poisoned baby milk, and so attention grabbing was this story that it seems to have appeared everywhere, including in my colleagues' psyches as they quickly wrote personal injury pieces about the very same issue.

The scandal involved melamine contaminated milk products, particularly the supply of baby milk powder, which has allegedly caused deaths and widespread illness amongst Chinese infants. It is said that over 50,000 children became sick, over 160 with acute kidney failure and at least four infants have died.

While my colleague's article focused on the chemical properties of melamine, and the legal ramifications in terms of product liability law, I personally felt keenly the gulf of attitude to life that exists between China and my own little bubble.

During my research I discovered that in July 2007, a former head of China's food and drug safety agency was put to death after being found guilty of taking bribes. This I found truly shocking. Now, don't get me wrong, I am in no way condoning bribe taking or putting the health of a nation at risk, but to shoot the man (official reports have not stated how the man was killed, but reporters note that court police have in the past shot convicted criminals in the back of the head, although more recently lethal injections have been used) seems to my liberal sensibilities, extreme to say the least.

Speculation is rife that reports of the contaminated milk were kept undercover for fear of igniting a furore at the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics held in August and September 2008. However, as one of the main suppliers involved in the contamination ignominy was an official Olympic sponsor supplying ice-cream and yogurt ice bars, the potential for widespread complaints of illness arising from contaminated faulty products is extremely likely.

And this shocked me too. The powers-that-be who were overseeing the Olympics in China were so desperate to reveal a sophisticated and capable side of the country to the rest of the world that they have unwittingly uncovered an underbelly so dark, that the western world are recoiling in horror.

Ok, so many people had already glimpsed that underbelly, but, here in my bubble, I had not. And now I see a nation where business people wanting to make a quick buck would risk the lives of, and ultimately kill, babies and children. I am more than shocked, I am appalled (and that doesn't nearly cover it).

As I get my brain back to product liability issues I return my thoughts to those parents who unknowingly fed their children with a chemical that is used to make cleaning products, glue and countertops. How devastated must they be? And I think too, about the men that put the stuff in the milk and find those liberal sensibilities of mine severely strained.

Can I claim?