Apathy and Politics. Part One.

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Infant in incubator at the hospital.

“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.”

-Dante Alighieri (paraphrased)

My experience has led me into Virginia’s regulatory labyrinth, and what I’ve uncovered forces me to question what exactly happened to basic morality and justice here in the Commonwealth. 

Could our post-pandemic society be so out of touch after years of isolation and curated social check-ins that we’ve grown numb? Have we ignored the erosion of basic consumer rights from deregulation?

Through both personal encounters and the reporting of many skilled journalists, I’ve witnessed violations so profound they expose how little regulatory protection remains for citizens. As discussed in the last podcast with our guest Jim Moye, regulation touches every part of your life — from food processing, to driving, to healthcare and even workplace safety. Regulations can help promote better outcomes when properly applied. 

The “rule of law” is supposed to be an American cornerstone. Most Americans take pride in laws that apply to all. By contrast, in places like Virginia, the architecture of the legal system is a colonial relic. The legislature has maintained sovereign immunity for state officials and regulatory bodies while the rest of us are mandated to follow the laws. 

Virginia, like Puerto Rico, is a Commonwealth, not a state. But unlike Puerto Rico, Virginia chose that unique commonwealth designation in part to grandfather in legal structures other states abandoned for an improved American statehood. Agencies like DPOR (my least favorite regulatory board) are British relics that persist in Virginia and North Carolina complete with an annual tea attended by British ambassadors with fancy napkins. 

The Price of Indifference

Socrates said a just society depends on an informed citizenry willing to engage in the pursuit of truth. I agree. But in my experience, Virginian society prefers tradition and “Southern Hospitality.” Ruffled feathers are to be avoided, especially in the privileged offices of appointed officials.

The governing class in Virginia remains a closed ranked population management system where any hint of dissent or opposition is met with indifference, indignation, and when all else fails, a feigned ignorance so thick that no amount of reason can penetrate it. It’s unseemly to question authority. Just ask any journalist shut out of invitation-only events hosted by the governor or Candidate,Winsome Sears.

I empathize with Virginians who may not want to engage with the system that institutionalized centuries of forced collective suffering. It is easier to hold on to the thought that the old days are gone, especially in the South where the ugliest history is not so distant. There is a reliance on keeping the harsh truths out of sight and out of mind to get through the day and avoid feeling the weight of it. 

The truth is that the avoided topics still demand to be discussed. Avoidance only prolongs the pain of others who are dependent on your acknowledgment that there is something very wrong here. This isn’t unique to Virginia, but it is especially acute here. We can learn quite a bit about a culture if we look into how it protects the innocent, the infirm, and each other.

Does Virginia Protect the Innocent? 

Let’s begin in Henrico — at the same hospital where my own daughter was born — Henrico Doctors’. In September 2023, Henrico Doctors’ self-reported to the Commonwealth that multiple infants in the NICU had unexplained broken bones.1 These reports surfaced alongside an outbreak of highly contagious MRSA that infected more than 90 infants.2

VDH and Henrico Doctors’ agreed to a corrective plan, including cameras to prevent further incidents and other preventative interventions. By December of 2024, the measures had failed: more broken bones, more instances of infant abuse, more unexplained injuries, and 2 infant deaths deemed by HDH to be unrelated. 1 2 

As it turns out, there were videos. The cameras had captured abuse, but no one intervened. The problem was that Henrico Doctors’ stopped monitoring the cameras shortly after they were installed.1 Why were there no state reviews of the security tapes? Why no state-led inspections? Why no accountability for the hospital itself?

VDH, like most oversight agencies in Virginia, suffers from regulatory incapacitation. Legislators have opted to support deregulation that allows corporations to self-regulate and self-report. Agencies have little authority to act and offenses must mount to near-nightmarish levels before the state considers pulling a license. Governor Youngkin often refers to regulation by the state as a "burden" opting to leave the job to private citizens. The only path to justice against big businesses is a lawsuit.

Youngkin also vetoed class action lawsuits, so each family would need to bear the burden alone, with separate cases that would slow the process. There are eight physical abuse victims and nearly 100 cases of preventable infections. That would be a powerful deterrent as a class action in comparison to VDH's administrative reprimand. Henrico Doctors’ Hospital still has an operational maternity ward even as its NICU is restricted. 

There is no clear path to license revocation. HDH’s violations amounted to well over a hundred infants harmed. I’m not sure if legislators or regulators have the capacity for oversight anymore. Hospitals that boost Virginia’s economy benefit from a slow, quiet process with no penalties, fines, or published regulatory records as the law stands today. Protective procedures were ignored. The public trust was violated during an active VDH investigation. If the state will not act, we’ve enlisted the wrong people to govern.

Deregulation and Its Consequences

Many states empower regulators to fine corporate hospitals. Virginia does not. The Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission (JLARC) regularly reports systemic failures directly to the governor and legislature. JLARC reports are publicly available and define numerous failures that result in public harm with recommendations for needed improvements, but work being done through the legislature doesn’t seem to reflect the JLARC audits or recommendations. The bills and regulatory changes are increasingly inspired by lobbyists. 

The legislature can’t simply continue to pretend it is unaware. We aren’t as uninformed as they pretend to be.

Encouraged by Governor Youngkin’s Executive Order 19,5 agencies regulate less while he celebrates the “cost savings” of corporate self-regulation. This case unfolded in that deregulated Virginia where weakened oversight let child abuse persist unchecked. 

A symbiotic relationship has evolved between government officials and corporations in Virginia. The hospitals are poorly regulated. Corporate crimes vanish from the record because the state doesn’t disclose them publicly. Corporations benefit from their undocumented status while consumers are harmed. The narratives need to shift to match reality because the lies are stale and the show is boring.

Most agencies have already met or exceeded Youngkin’s 25% deregulation goal. Now he pushes for 35%.3 4 Based on results, would you be comfortable stating that VDH was successful in its regulatory endeavors? So much so that VDH should do less?  

Do the potential earnings to the state from corporate expansion justify a political and regulatory shift from the responsibility to protect the innocent to the protection of corporations by removing regulations and monetary fines? Is this “cost savings” acceptable to us as a society?

Consent doesn’t require a vote or a contract. It requires silence. A diverted glance. Apathy. When a society stops holding institutions responsible for the abuse of newborns, it breaks the social contract. It becomes a corporate marketplace where lobbyists sit at the table while consumers are shut out.

And it doesn’t stop with hospital abuse. Nursing homes, water systems, and even the homes we live in suffer the same regulatory neglect. That’s where Part Two begins. 

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Apathy and Politics. Part Two.
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