Did one person's actions stand out as particularly shocking and/or evil? Whose behavior was hardest to understand?

There were many individuals who could be identified as the villain of this true story. Did one person's actions stand out as particularly shocking and/or evil? Whose behavior was hardest to understand?

Mr Reed --the devil incarnate. Rosy cheeks indeed. None of their behavior was difficult to understand--greed leaves no room for humane thought or action

AGREE big time with katherinep on both parts of the question. This one was too easy.

Mr. Reed and his obvious lies was an awful person. He lied to keep the girls working and the company profitable. There were many who collaborated to keep the hoax of "radium is safe" going, but Reed was the worst.

Yes, Mr Reed, and also the doctors willing to hide what they must have recognized.

I found one person particularly awful and he was Dr. Finn, the company doctor, who it turns out did not even
have a medical degree. He was examining these sick woman and pronouncing them well and their illness in no way connected to the radium. How does one live with themselves doing something like this? The entire professional medical doctors were so unsympathic and purposefully ignoring the gross medical situation these workers presented.

Definitely Mr. Reed. When two of the women came to see him and he said they looked just fine to him, I wanted to hit him with something, maybe a tray of Radium!

Also "Dr." Finn. He was a horrible person. Was he paid by the company to say the women were healthy?

Mr. Reed . He was the most selfish person in the book because he refused to see the truth.

I agree with evelyng that Dr. Finn was the one person that shocked me the most. Can you imagine how the women must have felt when they found out that vile man, who wasn't a physician at all, was touching and examining them. Creeps me out!

I agree about Mr Finn and Dr Reed. I think also of the government wanted these shining watches etc. and not doing good study of the side effects of radium.

Mr. Finn was despicable and Dr. Reed, like so many others in this story, was unbelievably greedy.

I think it was a toss up between Reed and Finn. One was a liar and deceitful man, the other was a poor excuse for a Dr. neither has the women’s interests in mind.

Mr Reed-I loved it when the one husband got into a physical fight with him. And Dr Finn-how disgusting.

I concur with all the prior responses...I don't understand how Dr. Finn was not bought up on charges and sent to jail. I know he was cited for practicing medicine without a license...but my god... his behavior was downright criminal! I wonder whatever happened to him ultimately? I wonder if the relatives of the executives or Dr. Finn knew about this story.

Another tie vote for Mr. Reed and Phd-posing-as M.D.-"Dr." Finn. In chapter 25, it was so evil that the increasing lawsuits from the workers led the firm to hire private detectives to follow the girls and look for anything they could use to smear their reputations. When all else failed, the company implied that the whole group of females should be ignored on a birds-of-a-feather-flock-together basis, using the bogus diagnosis of syphilis.