经济学人64:减肥商品 点肥成金不现实

 　　Business

　　商业

　　Diet products

　　减肥商品

　　A big, bad business

　　点肥成金不现实

　　Medical firms struggle to profit from weight-loss treatments

　　制药公司试图从减肥治疗中获利

　　OBESITY¹ is an epidemic² to some and an opportunity to others.

　　肥胖症对某些人来说是传染病，对别的一些人来说则是机遇。

　　More than two-thirds of Americans are overweight.

　　超过三分之二的美国人已经超重。

　　Find a way to battle the bulge³ and a huge profit might be made.

　　找个办法和肥胖对抗，说必定就此大赚一笔。

　　On February 22nd one pharmaceutical⁴ firm, Vivus, took a small step towards this goal.

　　2月22日，Vivus制药公司朝着这个目标前进了一步。

　　A committee advising America's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended that it approve Vivus's diet drug, Qnexa.

　　给美国食品药物管理局做咨询的一家委员会推荐，Vivus公司的减肥药Qnexa。

　　However, the pill's long-awaited final approval may not come until April, if at all.

　　但是，如果获得批准，该药品的漫长的最终肯定直到四月份才会到来。

　　The announcement mostly served as a reminder⁵ of what a struggle it is to turn fat into gold.

　　公告主要是提醒人们，这是一场点肥成金的抗争。

　　Pharmaceutical and medical-device companies are quite good at treating the conditions that come with obesity.

　　制药和医疗器械公司非常善于解决肥胖带来的问题。

　　However, they are dismal⁶ at helping⁷ consumers lose weight.

　　但是他们无法帮助消费者战胜肥胖本身，减少体重。

　　This is not for lack of trying. Take the curious case of the gastric⁸ band.

　　这不是因为缺乏尝试。以古怪的胃部束带为例。

　　Bariatric surgery can lead to weight loss in the long term.

　　肥胖治疗手术可以帮助患者在较长的时间内减少体重。

　　Hospitals can make money from all bariatric procedures, including gastric bypasses (in which the stomach is partitioned and the upper part connected directly to the small intestine), but the gastric band is a rare example of an opportunity for device-makers to profit from weight loss.

　　医院就是从这些减肥疗程中赚钱，包括胃绕道手术（手术中，胃被切割，直接把上部跟小肠连接起来），但是胃部束带却是一个罕见的例子，被当成一个器械制造商用来从减肥中赚钱的法子。

　　Allergan, best known for selling Botox, has tried to use its Lap-Band to tap the obesity market.

　　Allergan公司以销售肉毒杆菌而出名，尝试用产品Lap-Band打入减肥市场。

　　It is an inflatable loop which the surgeon fits near the top of the stomach, which helps the patient feel sated earlier.

　　Lap-Band是一圈松紧带，外科医生可以用它绕住患者胃的上部，这样患者会提前有腹饱感。

　　Allergan has captured about 70% of the worldwide market for gastric bands and balloons, but sales are now shrinking.

　　Allergan公司在全球胃部束带和充气袋市场占有率达70%，但是如今销量却有所下降。

　　The recession has sapped consumers' desire for expensive surgery.

　　经济不景气让消费者忍住做昂贵的手术的欲望。

　　Some patients have had bands removed because they slipped or proved ineffective.

　　有些病人甚至连束带也不用了，因为束带打滑或者没有效果。

　　Last year the FDA approved the Lap-Band's use in patients who are only slightly overweight, but insurers have refused to pay.

　　去年，美国食品药物管理局同意，微超重病人使用 Lap-Band，但是保险公司却拒绝付款。

　　In January David Pyott, Allergan's chief executive, said he would scrap⁹ an effort to market the band for teenagers.

　　一月份，Allergan公司首席执行官David Pyott说，他将放弃在年轻人束带市场的努力。

　　He is now trying to convince insurers of Lap-Band's merits, arguing that the $20,000 surgery is recouped in saved medical costs within four years.

　　他目前试图让保险公司也看到Lap-Band的优点，他认为两万美元手术费可以在四年之内通过减少医疗支出收回。

　　There is some scepticism about his chances of success: "The fact that banding is not as good as bypass has been known by everybody except the PR firms for the band," says Lee Kaplan, director of the Weight Centre at Massachusetts General Hospital.

　　至今仍有人怀疑他是否能成功：“事实上使用束带不必胃绕道手术好，所有人都知道，除了束带的公关公司，”马萨诸塞州中心医院体重中心主任Lee Kaplan如是说。

　　Drug companies have had even more trouble than device-makers.

　　制药公司的麻烦甚至比医疗器械公司的还要多。

　　It has been 13 years since the FDA approved a prescription¹⁰ diet pill.

　　从美国食品药物管理局批准减肥药为处方药到如今已经过了十三年。

　　That drug, Roche's Xenical, has notorious gastrointestinal side-effects.

　　瑞士罗氏制药公司的Xenical臭名昭著，该药会引发胃肠功能的副作用。

　　The FDA rejected Vivus's Qnexa in 2010 over concerns for the safety of pregnant women and the quickening of patients' heart rates.

　　美国食品药物管理局于2010年拒绝批准Vivus公司的Qnexa，因为担心该药对孕妇的安全造成伤害，担心该药会加快患者的心率。

　　Vivus's new data apparently¹¹ satisfied the FDA's advisory¹² committee.

　　Vivus公司新的数据显然让管理局的咨询委员会满意。

　　However, the agency may yet reject the drug.

　　但是该局还是可能拒绝批准该药。

　　Even if Qnexa is approved, it is unclear that patients will buy it.

　　就算Qnexa获得批准，患者会不会买账仍不明了。

　　Qnexa combines two treatments that are already on the market.

　　Qnexa结合了两种市面上上有的疗效。

　　Both medicines are generic¹³, which means that doctors may prescribe the existing drugs rather than Qnexa's more expensive version.

　　这两种药物都是非专利药，这说明医生可能会给患者开已有的药而不选择Qnexa，后者更贵。

　　For now, it is more profitable to treat fat patients than to try to make them slim.

　　到目前为止，治疗肥胖患者还是要比让他们减肥更有利可图。

1 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

2 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

3 bulge   

n.突出，膨胀，激增；vt.突出，膨胀

参考例句：

• The apple made a bulge in his pocket.苹果把他口袋塞得鼓了起来。
• What's that awkward bulge in your pocket?你口袋里那块鼓鼓囊囊的东西是什么？

4 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

5 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

6 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 gastric   

adj.胃的

参考例句：

• Miners are a high risk group for certain types of gastric cancer.矿工是极易患某几种胃癌的高风险人群。
• That was how I got my gastric trouble.我的胃病就是这么得的。

9 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

10 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

11 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

12 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

13 generic   

adj.一般的，普通的，共有的

参考例句：

• I usually buy generic clothes instead of name brands.我通常买普通的衣服，不买名牌。
• The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary faculty for swallowing the individual.一般妇女在婚后似乎有特别突出的抑制个性的能力。