January 27, 2006
Dying for Dollars
When M. Smith was diagnosed with cancer and AIDS in the early 1990s, she was given two years to live.
That she is still very much alive today is good news - to everyone but the people who bet big on her dying.
Had Smith perished on schedule, Life Partners Inc. would have made $60,000 on a $90,000 wager - a 66 percent return on the investment.
Instead, the company that expected to make a profit on Smith's life insurance policy wound up spending $100,000 more keeping her alive.
Now, Life Partners' attempt to wriggle out of the relationship has led to one of the most morbid contract disputes ever filed in New Jersey Superior Court.
~Stories about the financial misfortunes incurred by corporations in favor of individuals please me more often than not. I can't afford to embrace the philosophy of the bottom line. I can't afford to be a Republican or a Democrat. Life's a lottery, (not a carnival, or a beach) or an investment.
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