Crime and punishment

The death penalty is a topic I normally wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole. But one such sentence that occurred several weeks ago hit too close to home for me not to mention. The former head of the food and drug agency in China was given the death penalty following a conviction on charges of corruption and breaches of food safety. And all this came after he was expelled from China's ruling communist party because "investigators said he abused approval powers to obtain bribes and win illegal profits from drug companies."

All personal opinions and commentary on the sentence aside, the charges themselves sound rather familiar, no?

And while I don't want to turn this into a debate on whether or not the punishment fit the crime, it certainly serves as an example to government food and drug agencies in other countries (ahem).

Hopefully something good can come of the whole mess. Perhaps it will send a message to those people in positions of authority, especially those in charge of keeping our food and medications safe. Maybe it will remind them just how important their responsibilities are and that abusing those responsibilities and the power that comes with them isn't something to be taken lightly

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