Unfortunately, most laws don't start to be introduced until they have to be implemented (for example, something bad happened). Normally, if an incident causes an uproar in the public opinion, the legislature will have to promulgate a certain law.
The public outcry may be caused by many different factors. This could be a huge tragedy, like a fire that killed hundreds of people. It may also be a very vivid literary work, whose readers demand a change in the status quo. Or maybe it was the story of an ordinary woman who found a rotten slug at the bottom of her own glass.
However, no matter what the reason is, the following laws play an important role in creating today's working environment and living conditions.
The high diagnostic rate of cancer among uranium miners has led to the introduction of the Occupational Health and Safety Act
For a long time, an unsafe working environment has been a major concern for American workers, especially in mining environments. Due to poor ventilation and high risk of accidents, miners have to stay in dangerous environments every day when they go to work.
This danger was highlighted in a 1960 report that stated that senior uranium miners had lung cancer at five times as expected. However, uranium is a very popular substance, so society did not make any changes immediately.
But the workplace needs supporters who are safe and do not stop their activities. In testimony by the Lyndon Johnson administration, Willard Wilz, the labor secretary of the Lyndon Johnson administration, pointed out that more people died in workplace-related accidents than those died in Vietnam War . He estimated that three out of every four teenagers entering the workplace would suffer at least once in their lifetime of disability.
However, after West Virginia coal mine explosion killed 78 people in 1968, public concerns finally reached the highest level in history. Just a few months later, a massive miner strike attracted attention to another fatal disease that miners often suffer from: black lung disease.
Finally in 1970, the Occupational Safety and Health Act was passed during the term of Nixon .
Pure Food and Drug Act is a
The Issuance of the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed after a Congressional demonstration. First is Upton Sinclair The Jungle, which describes the horrible sanitation conditions of the meat processing industry. Including rotten meat containing rat feces, sawdust and chemicals sold to the public.
The book has aroused strong public protests, and the introduction of the Pure Food and Drug Law has begun to require stricter supervision of food quality. However, the bill was ignored (perhaps intentionally) for several months — until Illinois Rep. James Mann, on behalf of the bill, delivered an impassioned speech.
In his speech, Mann cited examples of contaminated food Americans eat every day. Mann said:
I have some adulterated food here. Here is a bottle of cherries, which were originally green when they were picked, but to make them stronger, remove all the greens with acid until they turn completely white, and then use a aniline dye, which is toxic to the human body no matter how much it is.
This was enough to make Congress finally realize the seriousness of the problem, so after a vote, the bill was officially introduced and began to ban the sale of adulterated food and medicines.
The Johnson & Johnson Tylenol poisoning case in 1982 has forever changed the way drugs are sold
If you were born after 1982, then you may have become accustomed to the aluminum foil sealing on every bottle you buy. If the seal is damaged or tampered with, then it is very necessary for us to throw the bottle directly.
Have you ever thought about why this is happening? These tamper-proof covers were only invented after a series of horrible murders.
In Chicago , a 12-year-old girl and a young postal worker died one after another, arousing the police's alertness. Soon after, the postman's visiting younger brother and sister-in-law were also found dead.The latter two deceased died after complaining about headaches and taking Tylenol.
So, Tylenol became the clue needed by the police. After further investigation, all four people died from capsules containing cyanide, which were placed in their Tylenol bottles. Within a week, three more people died from these poisonous pills, which eventually caused a large-scale panic. Johnson & Johnson, the manufacturer of
, quickly ordered a comprehensive recall of every bottle of tylenol in the country - more than 31 million bottles. This gave the police enough time to find out who was in a Chicago pharmacy and put these poison capsules manually into Tylenol pill bottles.
Despite a large-scale investigation, the culprit of the Chicago Tylenol murder was never found. However, the only benefit of this tragedy is the tamper-proof design we see today on all over the counter bottles.
We want to thank Johnson & Johnson for this invention, because it was the innovative security feature they invested more than $100 million to develop. They even went a step further in the security protocol and created a new capsule that could not be easily opened like the old ones before.
After an adverse drug hurts 10,000 babies, expectant mothers and their children are now protected
Now there are disclaimers on many drugs, "Pregnant women, please do not use it." This means that the drugs can easily have adverse effects on the mother or the baby.
However, this security problem did not begin to become common until the 1950s, when salidomide hurt more than 10,000 babies worldwide.
salidomide is a drug used to treat common cold, flu , nausea, especially morning sickness in pregnant women. After completing the initial test, manufacturers were very confident in their medication and they specifically promoted it to be safe for pregnant women.
Soon, this drug is available in 49 countries around the world, but not the United States. Because the FDA does not believe the tests done, especially after patients claim they have nerve damage after taking the drug.
Due to the hesitation of the U.S. government, the drug has been widely sold in other parts of the world for a full five years. During this time, officials began to discover some newborns had strange symptoms, including their vision, internal organs and brain problems, and even "finger hands." But because the problem is very broad, it is difficult for people to determine its origin.
When they finally found out that salidomide was the culprit, they removed it - but it is believed that more than 5,000 babies have died from exposure to the drug in uterus.
Following this discovery, new laws were implemented to ensure that pregnant women and unborn babies were taken into account when testing new drugs. A large-scale poisoning incident in
led to the establishment of the FDA
The US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has been around for a long time, so we take its existence for granted. However, this regulator has been established less than 100 years ago, and the story behind its birth is tragic.
As early as 1937, a drug called sulfonamide was found to successfully treat a variety of diseases such as streptococcal pharyngitis and scarlet fever .
At first, this was an amazing medical discovery. However, when the drug is converted into a new liquid form, trouble comes. At that time, when a proven existing drug was only available in a new form, the FDA did not require a re-examination of toxicity.
For scientists at the time, there was no harmful substance in this new mixture. The same medicine was just mixed with 70% diethylene glycol . Because they were considered harmless, they increased their yields and shipped the drug out. The result of this negligence
is fatal. This new form of drug proved to be so dangerous that 105 people died after drinking the liquid.
After the medical community finally became aware of the severity of the problem, they chose to work with the Administration to create a comprehensive overview of drug safety standards that ultimately shifted the FDA's drug regulatory focus to what we know today.
An over-promoted medical device advertisement defines the modern contract law
We have seen various product advertisements, and we have long been accustomed to its exaggerated publicity. There is a company in history who has experienced a painful lesson and learned the consequences of excessive commitment and failure to fulfill it.
In the late 19th century, Carbonate Tobacco Pills Company invented a product, which is basically what we call a nasal pot (a tool to clear nasal passages). However, the Carbonate Pills Company is very confident in their products and they say anyone who has used it will develop immunity to the flu . In addition, the company also posted an advertisement in the newspaper saying it would pay £100 pounds to any customer infected with the flu.
So when consumer Louisa Cargill was infected with the flu, she quickly asked for compensation. But the company refused to pay compensation, claiming that the publicity in the ad was not actually binding.
Soon, the case was appealed to the court, and the court finally ruled that the advertisement actually represented a binding contract. Therefore, this case sets an important precedent in modern contract law.
Photos of Lewis Hein reveal the terrible conditions for child labour throughout the United States
For most of human history, child labour has been relatively accepted - sadly, in some parts of the world, child labour still exists. And in the United States, this phenomenon is finally over when Americans see the faces of children who are exhausted from working.
1900, 18% of American workers were under the age of 16. So in 1908, a progressive reform group hired the sociologist Lewis Hein to take pictures of children working in factories, mines, farms and anywhere he saw fit. Over the next 14 years, Hein took thousands of photos, documenting the work environment children have to experience every day.
Although Hein's photos sparked strong public outcry, the Supreme Court has blocked legislation on child labour issues. Later, forced Congress to pass the Keating-Irvine Act (1916), which attempted to prohibit people from purchasing goods made from child labor, but was ruled unconstitutional by the court, and the same was true for another law passed in 1918.
By the 1930s, the government was eager to return to the labor market after the Great Depression. Therefore, under the combined effect of a series of events, the " Fair Labor Standards Law " was passed, stipulating that mining and manufacturing industries are not allowed to hire children.
beer snail case set a major precedent for the obligation to pay attention
1928, May Donoho met a friend in a cafe. Her friend ordered ginger beer for both of them .
When I was almost finished drinking, Donoho was in horror to find a rotting snail at the bottom of the glass. Later she received treatment for gastroenteritis and sued the cafe owner.
The owner claimed that since May Donoho did not buy the drink himself, he did not need to bear any responsibility - because the drink was given to her, the "obligation of attention" was invalid. So Donoho turned around and sued the producer (because the snail was likely a beer bottle that entered the factory). Donohoe's lawyer said the company is responsible for "taking reasonable prudent measures to ensure that its products are safe for humans."
After four years of battle, Donoho won. The manufacturer was sentenced to pay £200, equivalent to £7,400 today.
Port Arthur massacre completely changed Australia's gun laws
1996, Australia experienced the worst mass shootings in history and completely changed the country's gun laws.
That day was April 28, and the gunman was Martin Bryant, 28 years old, with a history of intellectual defects and behavioral problems. In 1992, he survived a car accident that killed his employer (although some speculated that it was the accident that caused him to steal the steering wheel).
With the legacy of the employer (and friends), Bryant began to stock up on guns. On August 28, it was not clear what stimulated Brian. He drove to a cottage and killed the owner.Then I drove to Port Arthur , a tourist destination. After dinner at a restaurant, Bryant took out a semi-automatic weapon and started shooting, killing 20 people, and killing more people while running away.
Police tracked Bryant's hut (where he hid), and caught him as he burned the house.
After this atrocity, the Australian government has completely changed the control of guns through the National Gun Agreement. The agreement includes a strict registration agreement, a 28-day wait period after the purchase of a gun, and an almost complete ban on semi-automatic or fully automatic weapons.
An incident of cannibalism at sea determines the necessity as a defense of innocence for murder
1884, four people sailed from England to Australia on a yacht and encountered a terrible storm. When their ships sank, they boarded a small lifeboat - carrying a small amount of supplies. After rationing several cans of radish for weeks, these people were desperate.
The youngest crew member, 17-year-old Richard Parker, started drinking sea water and soon became very ill. The remaining three people face a serious choice: is to kill one of them and let the others survive?
Two of the sailors decided that they should do so. So, because Parker was already ill and had no relatives, he was chosen to save others.
A few days later, the three surviving people were rescued and confessed what happened to Parker. They are so direct because they believe they are protected by "sea customs" - an understanding that sailors must do something when facing shipwrecks.
However, the law does not agree. Two of the sailors were charged with murder, setting a precedent that the necessary reasons cannot be justified of murder.
Despite such a court decision, public outcry still defended the choice the two sailors had to make - six months later they were released from prison.
The fire in the triangle shirt factory killed 146 people, forcing New York to introduce the workplace safety law
On March 25, 1911, a tragic fire broke out at the triangle shirt factory, which was caused by dishonest employers, workers who operated illegally and lack of vision.
The owner of the triangle shirt factory, most of whom are teenage immigrant women, have had a history of the factory being burned. However, these are all intentional - to collect insurance benefits. And, since they may want to burn the factory again, they refuse to install an automatic sprinkler fire extinguishing system.
Apart from the lack of a sprinkler system, there is only one elevator working here. In the two-story stairs, one level of door locks from the outside to prevent theft, and the other door only opens inward. There is a fire escape, but it is too narrow to go down from it.
htmlOn March 25, there were 600 workers in the factory, and a pile of rags quickly caused a small fire. A manager tried to put out the fire with a fire hose, but the water hose was already rusted.Due to an elevator failure, the women jumped out of the elevator shaft and tried to escape the fire. Others were trapped in the stairs because of locked doors. There were still some people who had nowhere to go, so they chose to jump out of the window.
In just 18 minutes, 144 people died, and two more died of injuries a few days later.
Public protests and strikes led to the implementation of the Fire Protection Law, but the factory owner escaped criminal prosecution. Sadly, the factory owner paid only $75 in compensation to each victim's family, while he took $400 in insurance.
