Re: your mail

[Bernard L Cohen <blc+@pitt.edu>]

Bernard L. Cohen
Physics Dept.
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Tel: (412)624-9245
Fax: (412)624-9163
e-mail: blc+@pitt.edu


On Fri, 22 Nov 1996 mad11@health.state.ny.us wrote:
> Is it criminal that these things happened? Yes.  But again, in the 40's
> and 50's, compensation was based on actual harm.  The victims deserved
> just compensation.  There is only one still surviving.  The beneficiaries
> of this outrageous settlement (11 out of 12) have been enriched without
> incurring any harm (People do die, death is a function of time).  If the
> primary breadwinner was lost, then compensation should be based on his
> medical costs, lost wages plus interest.  In this case, it was based on
> emotion and an unwillingness to use reason.
> 
---What about compensation for the hundreds of thousands of draftees who
were killed or permanently maimed in the war that was going on at that
time? Their dependents got nothing ($10,000 if they had purchased
insurance).