Most people accuse Richard Scrushy of being the poster child what is wrong with our healthcare system, and whereas, there were some very interesting accounting issues at HealthSouth there, remember it’s only one company and the system isn’t working, just like a good many government programs, that just get bigger and bigger and provide less and less.

Not long ago, I was discussing this issue with an acquaintance who was shocked that the justice system acquitted Mr. Scrushy, but he got a fair trial and he won his case, and that is how our legal system works. Indeed, you can imagine that I found it odd that someone would pull a comment out from the trial and use that to try the man in the court of public opinion.

Forbes Article; How to Catch a Fraud,” by Jonathan Fahey, where the author discussed the “former HealthSouth Chief Executive Richard Scrushy was being tried on fraud charges in 2005,” and he stated this comment; “federal prosecutors asked why he wasn’t alarmed by the fact that the company’s sales were increasing while the number of its facilities was decreasing.”

Well, consider if you will that Jack Welsh was cutting the number of sales offices and facilities, and their sales went up? It’s the basic concept behind many mass-consolidations. So, in actuality, that question from the prosecutors is almost a bit naive. But that doesn’t surprise me, how many Federal Prosecutors, or even State Prosecutors have ever run a business?

Regardless of this case, the reality is that you can cut facilities and make more profits, it happens all the time. It’s all about the logistical flow, cost of each location, cannibalization issues, and trading areas. So, I’d just like to point that out. Now this is not to say that, I know all the facts, or that I do not have my own opinions of guilt or innocence, I definitely do, I assure you.

However, using comment by a Federal Prosecutor to sum up a case, as if that proved anything, was rather weak in this instance, and it goes to show you that even our top notched business correspondence and Federal Prosecutors sometimes do not see through their own somewhat flawed arguments. Please consider all this.