Government Executes FDA Director

In the past, I've suggested that various Directors of America's
Food and Drug Administration deserve to be drawn and quartered
for crimes committed against humankind. For bribes taken. For
harmful drugs approved. For betrayal of all citizens. I never
intended to support torture or the death penalty when I voiced
my original opinions. Jail? Absolutely, but executions? Although
capital punishment is sanctioned by seventy-six percent of
America's 50 states, I am no advocate of such a solution.

Today's Washington Post reports that the Director of
China's Food and Drug Administration has been executed
by government decree. I kid you not.

Zheng Xiaoyu has been executed with a bullet to the skull.
Zheng's family will be made to pay for the bullet.
That is Chinese justice.

Today's Washington Post lists the crimes:

Bribes taken to approve deadly antibiotics.

A shipment of sugar-free drink mix from the United
States rejected for having too much red dye.

High bacterial counts and excessive additives
permitted in preserved fruit and dried fish.

Meat tainted with clenbuterol, a feed additive.

Chinese-made toothpaste exported with diethylene glycol.

Pet food containing Chinese wheat gluten tainted with melamine
blamed for the deaths of dogs and cats in the United States.

In coming days, editorials and commentaries will
be written about Crime and Punishment in China.
Does today's punishment fit yesterday's crime?

Robert Cohen
i4crob@...