Compliance Programs:
H. There was no effective anonymous hotline
I. There was no effective protection of whistleblowers
J. There was no consistent enforcement through corrective actions
K. Medco had no systems to assure reasonable steps to respond to reported offenses including detection and investigation of reported violations
L. There was no code of ethics in place at Merck-Medco.
The United States Sentencing Commission has issued a guide to courts that, in part, describe events that may mitigate any substantial fines or other punishment that may be imposed on a corporation for violation of criminal statutes. This guide offers some factors that may be considered when deciding whether to mitigate
the culpability of a corporation when a violation of law has occurred. These items include but are not limited to:
A. An “effective program to prevent and detect violations of law” means a program that has been reasonably designed, implemented, and enforced so that it generally will be effective in preventing and detecting criminal conduct. Failure to prevent or detect the instant offense, by itself, does not mean that the program was not effective. The hallmark of an effective program to prevent and detect violations of law is that the organization exercised due diligence in seeking to prevent and detect criminal conduct by its employees and other agents. Due diligence requires at a minimum that the organization must have taken the following types of steps:
1. The organization must have established compliance standards and procedures to be followed by its employees and other agents that are reasonably capable of reducing the prospect of criminal conduct.
2. Specific individual(s) within high-level personnel of the organization must have been assigned overall responsibility to oversee compliance with such standards and procedures.
