Unfortunately, most laws aren't put in place until they have to be put in place (i.e., something bad has happened). Usually, an event causes such a public uproar that legislation is nearly forced into having to enact some kind of law.
The source of the public outcry can be many different things. It might be a massive tragedy - such as a fire - where hundreds of people perish. It might be a piece of literature that is so graphic, that its readers demand a change to the system.
Or it might be the story of an ordinary woman who found a decomposing slug in the bottom of her glass.
Regardless of the reason, the following laws were all important in creating the working and living conditions that we're accustomed to today. Vote up the ones you think were most essential.
- 1
Expectant Mothers And Their Children Are Now Protected After A Bad Medicine Harmed 10,000 Babies
On many medications today, you see the disclaimer, “Do not use if pregnant.” This implies that the medication is easy unsafe for the mother or the baby.
Well, this kind of safety issue wasn't common until after the 1950s, after thalidomide had harmed upwards of 10,000 babies across the globe.
Thalidomide was a medication used to treat the common cold, flu, nausea - and specifically morning sickness in pregnant women. After completing their initial testing, the manufacturers were so confident in their medicine that they specifically advertised it as safe for expectant mothers.
Soon the drug was available in 49 countries around the world - not including the United States. The FDA wasn't sold on the testing that was done, especially after patients claimed they developed nerve damage after taking the drug.
Despite the U.S.'s hesitancy, the medicine sold widely elsewhere in the world - for a full five years. During this time, officials started to discover that some newborn babies had odd symptoms - including problems with their eyesight, internal organs and brain, and even “flipper hands.” But with this wide range of issues, it was difficult to pin down the source.
When they finally found that thalidomide was the culprit, they pulled it off the shelves - but it's believed that upwards of 5,000 babies passed due to their exposure to the drug while in the womb.
After this discovery, new laws were implemented to ensure that expectant mothers and unborn babies were considered when testing new medications.
Justice served? - Photo:
- Ульянов Виктор Семёнович
- Wikimedia Commons
- CC-BY-SA 4.0
2Huge Rates Of Cancer Diagnosis Among Uranium Miners Led To The OSHA Act
Unsafe working conditions had long been a concern for American workers, particularly in mining settings. With poor ventilation and a high risk of accidents, miners were experiencing dangerous conditions every day they went to work.
This danger was highlighted in a damning report in 1960, which stated that veteran uranium miners suffered from lung cancer at five times the expected rate. However, uranium was a highly sought after substance, so change wasn't immediately made.
But proponents of workplace safety didn't stop. In his congressional testimony, Willard Wirtz, Lyndon Johnson's Labor Secretary, argued that more people had died in workplace-related accidents than in the Vietnam War. He estimated that three out of every four teenagers entering the workforce would suffer at least one disabling workplace injury in their lifetime.
However, public concern reached an all-time high after a coal mine explosion in West Virginia killed 78 people in 1968. Just a few months later, a large mine workers strike brought attention to another deadly disease miners were plagued with: black lung.
Finally, in 1970, the Occupational Safety and Health Act was passed under President Nixon.
Justice served?- Photo:
- Photo:
- University of Washington
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public domain
3The Pure Food And Drug Act Was Passed After A Disgusting Demonstration Given On The Congress Floor
There were two main catalysts to the Pure Food and Drug Act. First, was Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, a book that depicted the horrific sanitary conditions of the meatpacking industry. This included meat being sold to the public that was rotten and contained rat droppings, sawdust, and chemicals.
The public outcry from this book was met with the introduction of the Pure Food and Drug Act, which would require stricter regulation of the quality of food. However, the Act was ignored (perhaps purposely) for months - until Representative James Mann of Illinois made an impassioned speech on its behalf.
In his rhetoric, Mann brought examples of the tainted food that Americans ate every day. Mann said:
I have here . . . a number of adulterated articles. Here is a bottle of cherries, originally picked green, in order that they might be firm, with the green color all taken out with acid until they were perfectly white, and then colored with an aniline dye which is poisonous in any quantity.
This was enough to turn Congress' stomachs - and votes - in favor of the act, which prohibited the sale of misbranded or adulterated food and drugs.
Justice served?- Photo:
- 4
A Mass Poisoning Led To The Creation Of The FDA
The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has been around so long that we take its existence for granted. Yet, this regulatory body is less than 100 years old. And the story behind its creation is tragic.
Back in 1937, a medicine - Sulfanilamide - was found to be successful in treating a host of different ailments, such as strep throat and scarlet fever.
At first, this was a wonderful medical discovery. However, the trouble came when the drug was transformed into a new liquid form. At the time, the FDA didn't require toxicity testing when a proven, existing drug was simply being offered in a new form.
And to the scientists at the time, there was nothing harmful in the new concoction that would raise flags. It was the same medication, mixed with 70% DEG (diethylene glycol). DEG was thought to be harmless, so they ramped up production and shipped out the new liquid.
This oversight turned out to be deadly. It turned out that DEG is, in fact, very dangerous. So dangerous, that 105 people perished after ingesting this liquid elixir.
After the medical world realized what had happened, they teamed up with the administration to create a comprehensive overview of drug safety standards. This ultimately shifted the FDA's drug focus to what we know today.
Justice served? - 5
The Tylenol Murders Of 1982 Forever Changed The Way Medication Was Sold
If you were born after 1982, you're likely used to the foil seals that are over each medicine bottle you buy. If that seal is damaged or appears to be tampered with, we're taught to throw the bottle out.
Have you ever wondered why this is the case? Well, our tamper-proof lids were developed after a grisly set of murders.
When a 12-year-old girl and young postal worker both died shortly after each other in Chicago, it started raising red flags for police. Shortly after, the postal worker's visiting brother and sister-in-law were found dead. The latter two died after complaining of a headache - and taking some Tylenol.
Tylenol ended up being the thread the police needed. Upon further investigation, all four people had died from capsules containing cyanide, which had been dropped into their Tylenol bottles. Within a week, three more people had died from these poisonous pills - and it caused a mass panic.
The manufacturer of Tylenol, Johnson and Johnson, quickly ordered a complete recall of every single Tylenol bottle in the country - over 31 million bottles. This gave police the time to figure out that someone had been hand-placing these tainted capsules into Tylenol bottles in Chicago pharmacies.
Despite a massive investigation, the culprit of the Chicago Tylenol murders was never found. The one good thing to come from this tragedy, however, was the tamper-proof design we see on all over-the-counter medical bottles today.
We can thank Johnson and Johnson for this invention - as they invested over $100 million to develop this innovative new safety feature. They even took their safety protocol a step further, creating a new caplet that couldn't simply be opened up like the old capsules.
Justice served? - Photo:
- Carbolic Smoke Ball Company
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public domain
6A Quack Medical Device Defined Modern Contract Law
We've all seen ads for products that seem too good to be true. Well, one company learned the hard way what happens when you overpromise and underdeliver.
In the late 1800s, the Carbolic Smoke Ball Company created a product that is essentially what we'd call a neti pot today (a container that clears the nasal passages). However, the Carbolic Smoke Ball Company was so confident in their product that they said that anyone who used it was immune to getting the flu. On top of that, in a newspaper advertisement, the company stated that would pay £100 to any customer who got the flu.
So, when Louisa Cargill caught the flu, she requested compensation. But the company refused to pay out - claiming the offer in the ad wasn't actually binding.
The British Court of Appeal ruled that the advertisement did, in fact, represent a binding contract. The case set an important precedent in modern contract law.
Justice served?- Photo:
- Photo:
- Lewis Hine
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public domain
7Lewis Hine’s Photographs Exposed Horrific Child Labor Conditions Across The United States
Child labor was relatively accepted for much of this planet's history - and still sadly is practiced in areas of the globe. However, in the United States, it took Americans seeing the faces of exhausted working children to finally put an end to it.
In 1900, 18% of all American workers were under the age of 16. So, in 1908 a progressive reform group hired a sociologist, Lewis Hine, to capture pictures of children working in factories, mines, on farms, and anywhere else he saw fit. For the next 14 years, Hine captured thousands of images of the heartbreaking working conditions young children experienced every day.
While Hine's photos created a public outcry, attempts to pass legislation to deal with child labor were blocked by the Supreme Court. The Keating-Owen Act (1916) attempted to prohibit the purchase of goods made with child labor by was rendered unconstitutional by the court, as was another law passed in 1918.
By the 1930s, the government was desperate to get out of work adults back into the workforce after the Great Depression. So, with this combination of events, the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed - stating that children could no longer be employed in mining and manufacturing.
Justice served?- Photo:
- 8
A Snail In A Bottle Of Ginger Beer Set A Major Precedent For Duty Of Care
In 1928, May Donoghue met up with a friend at a cafe. Her friend ordered for the both of them - getting a ginger beer float for Donoghue.
After nearly finishing the drink, Donoghue was horrified to find a decomposing snail at the bottom of the glass. She was treated for gastro-enteritis, and chose to sue the cafe owner.
The owner made the claim that since Donoghue had not actually purchased the drink herself, he didn't owe her anything - a “duty of care” was void since the drink was given to her. So, Donoghue turned around and sued the manufacturer (since the snail has likely gotten into the ginger beer bottle in the factory).
Donoghue's lawyer argued that the company had a responsibility to “take reasonable care to ensure his products were safe for human consumption.”
After a four-year battle, Donoghue came out victorious. She was awarded £200, the equivalent of £7,400 today.
Justice served? - 9
The Port Arthur Massacre Radically Changed Australia's Gun Laws
In 1996, Australia experienced its worst ever mass shooting - and it changed gun laws for the country forever.
The day was April 28, and the shooter was Martin Bryant. Bryant was 28 and intellectually disabled, and he had a history of questionable behavior. In 1992, he survived a car accident that left his employer dead (though it's been speculated that he grabbed the wheel and caused the crash.)
With the inheritance from his employer (and friend), Bryan started stockpiling guns. On August 28, it's not clear what set Bryan off. But he drove to a cottage and murdered the owners. Then, he drove to Port Arthur - a popular tourist destination. After eating a meal at one of the cafes, Bryant pulled out a semiautomatic weapon and started shooting. He wiped out 20 people in the restaurant and multiple more as he fled.
The police tracked Bryant to the cottage (where he had holed up) and caught him as he burned the building down.
Following this atrocity, the Australian government radically changed its outlook on guns through the National Firearms Agreement. This agreement includes strict registration protocols, a 28-day wait period after purchasing a gun, and the near total ban of semiautomatic or fully automatic weapons.
Justice served? - Photo:
- Claude Lorrain
- Wikimedia Commons
- CC0
10An Act Of Cannibalism At Sea Ruled That Necessity Does Not Justify Murder
In 1884, four men were sailing on a yacht from England to Australia when they encountered a nasty storm. As their boat went down, the men managed to get on a small lifeboat - grabbing a very small amount of supplies. After weeks of rationing a few tins of turnips, the men were desperate.
The youngest crew member, 17-year-old Richard Parker, took to drinking seawater - and quickly became very ill. The remaining three had a grim choice to make: do they kill one of them, to keep the rest of them alive?
Two of the sailors decided that yes, they should. So, since Parker was already sick and had no dependents, he was chosen as the sacrifice to save the others.
The surviving three were rescued a few days later and candidly explained what happened to Parker. They were so open because they believed they were protected by ‘The Custom of the Sea’ - an understanding among sailors of doing what must be done in the face of a shipwreck.
However, the law disagreed. Two of the sailors were charged with murder - setting the precedent that necessity does not justify murder.
Despite the court ruling, the public outcry was overwhelming in defense of the sailors' impossible choice - and they were released from jail six months later.
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- Photo:
11146 Deaths In The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Forced New York To Clean Up Its Workplace Laws
A combination of crooked employers, corrupt city workers, and lack of forethought went into the tragic fire that took place at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory on March 25, 1911.
Employing mostly teenage immigrant women, the owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory had a history of having factories burn down. However, this was previously all on purpose - to collect the insurance money. And, since there was a chance they may want to burn the factories down again, they refused to install sprinkler systems.
In addition to no sprinkler systems, there was only one working elevator. Of the two staircases, one had its ground-floor door locked from the outside to prevent theft; and the other door only opened in. There was one fire escape, but it was so narrow it was nearly impossible to navigate down it.
On March 25, 600 workers were inside the factory when a small fire started in a rag pile. A manager tried to douse it out with a fire hose, but it was rusted shut.
With the elevator malfunctioning, women were jumping to their deaths in the elevator shaft to try to escape the fire. Others were trapped in the staircase by the locked doors. And still, others had nowhere to go - so they started jumping out the windows.
In just 18 minutes, 144 people perished, with two more passing a few days later from their injuries.
The public outcry and strikes led to the implementation of a fire prevention law, but the factory owners escaped criminal indictment. To add further insult to injury, the factory owners paid $75 to each victim’s family, while pocketing $400 in insurance payments.
Justice served?
