QUILLBLOG

Former pharmaceutical executive ordered to write book

Organizations like PEN and Amnesty International battle tirelessly to free writers who have been silenced, often through quasi-judicial means. But what happens when it goes the other way – when someone is forced to write a book?

From The New York Times:

On Monday, Judge Ricardo M. Urbina of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, sentenced a former senior pharmaceutical executive to write a book.

Earlier this year the executive, Dr. Andrew G. Bodnar, a former senior vice president at Bristol-Myers Squibb, had pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the federal government about the company’s efforts to resolve a patent dispute over the blood thinner Plavix.

The judge sentenced Dr. Bodnar to two years of probation during which he is to write a book about his experience connected to the case. Dr. Bodnar must also pay a $5,000 fine.

This is a blatant case of reverse censorship. To sit by and allow it is to accede to tyranny (of the blank page). We suggest a gluttony strike. (Ba-boom!)

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