Mitigating Circumstances

Prologue

Geneva, Switzerland

Andrew Buchanan surveyed the lavishly appointed conference room his newly acquired international pharmaceutical corporation, World Wide Cures, had leased for its semi-annual board meeting. The company’s main office on the other side of town was equipped with a conference room, but he wanted his first meeting as chairman to impress his fellow board members. The room, with its floor to ceiling windows, high-backed leather chairs and mahogany conference table, should accomplish that nicely.

Andrew gained control of the company three months earlier by way of a hostile takeover. He, along with business associates, Yuri Babkin (a well-known Russian oligarch and suspected mob kingpin) and Li Wei (manufacturing and distribution mogul in his own right, with a reputation for ruthlessness), had mastered the art of corporate takeover. On today’s agenda was the launch date of a new drug, SafetyNet. Even the name was a new marketing strategy: use a name people can remember instead of a compilation of Latin words no one can pronounce. The drug—more powerful than OxyContin in controlling pain, but twice as addictive—should have launched six months ago. Unfortunately, seven of the thirteen board members refused to sign off on the product. It was this reluctance to bring SafetyNet to market that resulted in stock prices slumping, affording Andrew the opening he needed to take over the company.

“Gentlemen, and Lady,” he began, giving a smile and nod to Marlena Hurst from Germany, the only female board member, “You all know what the projected revenue is from this drug in the United States alone. I can’t fathom any reason for delaying the launch another day. Oxy supply is shrinking, which leaves the door wide open for our product.”

Jason Cabot interjected in his strong Boston accent, “The Ox supply is shrinking because Perdue Pharma along with several others have all but shut down over lawsuits and settlements costing billions of dollars. This company has stayed in business by avoiding the kind of controversies a product like this will create. Our profit margins are one of the highest in the industry. We don’t need the liability exposure SafetyNet will create; we’re making enough money without it.”

“Jason, my friend, would you please share with the board exactly how much ‘enough money’ is,” asked Yuri Babkin in Russian-accented English. “We have all invested large amounts of rubles in this company expecting to make even larger profits. If people can’t control their urges, not our problem.”

“But it is our problem!” George Sanders snapped. “As you all know, Peter and I lost our sister to an overdose of OxyContin just last year. The doctor treating Beverly overprescribed that poison to all his patients so that he and his wife could qualify for a cruise to Tahiti. Now you want to dump an even stronger poison on the market? We will never support this launch––not now, not ever!”

Andrew glared at the Sanders brothers briefly, then scanned the table for anyone else who may have wished to contribute to the discussion.

Jeffery O’Toole joined in the conversation, “You all know I like making money as much as any of us, but this drug will be regulated out of existence by the FDA. Several of the regulators are my Georgetown neighbors. We occasionally play golf together and I’ve mentioned the drug to them, strictly as a concept. Every single one said not to even bother producing it, because they would never approve it. I can’t see supporting a product that is D.O.A.”

Jacque Belanger, representing the Canadian division, spoke next. “Even though I live in the city of Quebec, I spend a great deal of my time in Ottawa lobbying the government to approve new products. Mes amis, I won’t jeopardize losing the Canadian government business over one questionable product. For the future existence of this corporation, my vote must remain no.”

Juan Castro and Mickey Morgan, who represented South America and Australia respectively, indicated no with a thumbs down gesture. Faced with a solid block of no’s Andrew turned to the remaining board members, “I apologize for wasting everyone’s time. Unless an emergency dictates otherwise, let’s schedule our next meeting for six months from today.”

The members slowly departed the room in groups of two or three, until only Andrew, Yuri and Li remained. It was clear to Andrew that the remaining two men wanted to talk privately, so he invited them for dinner in his suite. Over dinner and drinks, the three amiably discussed European football, each choosing his favorite team to win the World Cup. Andrew poured after-dinner brandies for his guests, and they got down to the reason for their meeting.

“Gentlemen, I’m sure you understand how frustrating it is having to deal with troublesome people the likes of whom blocked our initiative today. It won’t take long before this cash cow we just purchased becomes a white elephant.”

“Andrew, my friend, making problem people disappear is Russian specialty,” said Yuri with a sly grin. “Troublesome people vanish all the time.”

“Same in China,” Li nodded in agreement. “The Triads can be very useful in clearing roadblocks—for a price, of course.”

“I see where you two are going, but I don’t need to end up in jail over this. Li, I need your people to concentrate on production. Assuming I go along with what you two seem to be proposing, Yuri, you have the people available to handle it. Hypothetically, we wouldn’t need to eliminate all seven. Five would do nicely. Again, hypothetically,” emphasized Andrew.

Yuri said, “Not to worry, I have just the people for this job. He is a former Spetsnaz from strong Russian stock. She is Ukrainian but has worked many jobs for me and never failed. They have even worked together before, but I don’t think they are very close. No matter, they are professionals and will do good job.”

“I don’t need to see their CVs. The less I know about this the better. It should happen soon though for Li to start production. Yuri, if you want to handle this the Russian way, you have my blessing. After all, the only reason we are all in this is to make money.”

Yuri gave a toothy grin, “Not to worry, Andrew, problem is good as solved.”