I 'spose I ought to think of a better scenario.
hmm. oooh, I make chapstick that whens to explode under really rare conditions. Three people die and I get sued. Let's say it'd cost me $100k in lawsuits and $200k to fix the problem, which would I do? The $100k cause that's the most beneficial.
No, CrAz3d, the moral thing to do is the $200k.
I admit there is some controversy over medicines in similar situations. For example, I recently saw a TV show where a medicine had a toxin in it and the FBI suggested that the drug company recall all of its drugs. But then the company could be A) taking life-saving drugs away from people who need them and B) since it was a significant source of medicinal research, the damage of such a recall and its publicity would financially impede the research which can in effect prevent ailing people from getting due cures.
But chapstick doesn't save anyones lives, and chapstick research won't either, so there's no excuse for taking the cheaper route at the expense of others' lives. More generally, it's immoral to make money if it puts people's lives at risk and does nothing else but pad your couch cushions.
