Heinz Moral Dilemna

I am here to represent Mr. Heinz as his defense attorney and provide you with the facts. As you can see this man has many feelings for his wife, he loves her immeasurably, as any husband may love their wife, but Mr. Heinz has shown his love in a very different way.  Mr. Heinz, stole medicine to help save his wife’s life, which, under the circumstances I believe was ethical and just and think that you will all agree.  Mr. Heinz tried everything he could think of prior to stealing the medicine.  His wife was on his deathbed, she needed the medication and he could not afford it.  It is an appalling healthcare system that has the medicine to save someone but refuses to let patients have it due to their inability to pay.  The druggist should have allowed Mr. Heinz to pay for the medication over time, as any ethical and empathetic person would have. Have you ever not had enough money for something you absolutely needed? Have you been denied assistance and left without an option?

Do you agree that the job of a druggist is to manufacture medicine to help people and save lives? What is the point at the end of the day, just to make a profit? If you were the druggist would you have given Mr. Heinz the drug or not? If you chose not to would feel guilt for letting someone die?  What if you were losing a lot of blood and you went to the hospital and they told you that they didn’t have any room for somebody who couldn’t pay and you died?  What lengths would you go for someone you loved?  Mr. Heinz was left without an option to obtain the expensive drug which he knew cost much less to manufacture that the $2000 price tag.  The druggist demanding such a profit on the drug at the expense of his wife’s life was unacceptable to Mr. Heinz , as it would be to any ethical and sympathetic person like yourselves.

Mr. Heinz’s  wife was on her deathbed, suffering from a rare kind of cancer.  They had tried everything and this medication was their last hope for a miracle that could save her life.  Mr. Heinz had offered the druggist $1000, half of the total cost of the drug, but the druggist refused to sell it. People of the jury, can’t you see that this innocent man’s intention was to save the life of someone he loves. When faced with such a circumstance, any of you would have made the same choice.  Have you ever made a decision in your life that although for a good reason, could have resulted in your incarceration?  Have you ever made a mistake that you learned from and that made you a better person? Don’t you agree that this should be a lesson that Mr. Heinz could learn from and find a way to raise the money to pay the druggist? You do you want to be the responsible for the death of his wife and Mr. Heinz going to prison too? Thank you very much members of the jury, please consider your decision and respond in favor of compassion.