Train Job Revisited

During this episode of Firefly Mal and his crew are contracted by a ruthless crime boss to steal cargo from a train. After stealing the cargo Mal and his crew realize that what they have stolen is medicine meant to cure a planet full of diseased people. After discovering that the medicine was stolen the local sheriff asks for help from the Alliance and even though Alliance agents were on the train that the cargo was stolen from, and are currently in Pandiso, which is the planet from which the medicine was stolen, the Alliance refuses to help the local authorities with the recovery of the medicine. Although governments are supposed to uphold the law and protect their citizens, the Alliance was clearly indifferent to the plight of Pandiso. Even though Alliance agents were already on Pandiso when it became evident that the medicine was stolen they did not help the local sheriff recover the medicine. Why could this be? Is it possible that the Alliance is only concerned about larger communities, or was there a legitimate reason for them not wanting to help Pandiso? Based on the information from this episode, as well as information gleaned from other episodes regarding the Alliance and their treatment of smaller planets/moons, I believe that it is the former of the two theories. Because the medicine that was stolen was not Alliance property, nor were the soldier aboard the train directly responsible for protecting the medicine the Alliance viewed the theft as not their problem.