美国国家公共电台 NPR Opioid Trial: 4 Companies Reach Tentative Settlement With Ohio Counties

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

There has been a major development in a case to determine who bears the responsibility for America's opioid crisis. This morning, four drug companies reached a tentative deal in a landmark¹ case in Ohio, where the crisis has claimed thousands of lives. The development came less than two hours before the trial was set to begin. Here with the latest is North Country Public Radio's Brian Mann. He covers opioid litigation for NPR, and he joins us from Cleveland. So, Brian, you and I were talking about this case. And the suit was moving forward. There was going to be a trial. It was going to start today. Now there's a tentative deal? What can you tell us?

BRIAN MANN, BYLINE²: Yeah. Well, first of all, they were very sneaky, and they did these talks through the weekend and through this morning behind closed doors. So this was a surprise to everybody. But yes, there is a tentative deal now. And it's with four companies involved, three of the major drug distributors in the country, including McKesson and Cardinal³ Health - also the drug maker⁴ Teva. And what they've agreed to do is pay out about $300 million in total. That's cash but also some medical supplies that they're going to donate. What's interesting here is that this only involves two Ohio counties, right? This is not a global national deal. This is only for Summit and Cuyahoga County - counties. And so this leaves some big questions about what this will mean for the rest of the country.

MARTIN: Right. So - and I want to ask about that in a minute. But first, if four companies are part of this settlement, does that mean the remaining two are still going to trial?

MANN: What's going to happen now - so Walgreens and one other firm essentially⁵ severed⁶ from this deal and also severed from this trial. So this trial is not now going to go forward. What will happen is that they will be bundled together with all of the thousands of other lawsuits⁷ that are still unresolved that will go forward. And, essentially, there will still need to be some future test case to determine their liability and also the larger liability for the entire pharmaceutical⁸ industry.

MARTIN: I mean, all - it's my understanding that all of the companies have been pushing for some kind of settlement because, presumably, going to trial just makes them look worse in some way.

MANN: Yeah. So it's terrible PR. What's come out through this litigation over the last year has been devastating⁹ for the pharmaceutical industry - internal documents, emails that have shown a lot of alleged¹⁰ wrongdoing. So that's bad. The other thing that's happening here, Rachel, is that these companies are scrambling¹¹ to find a global solution, right? We're talking hundreds of millions of dollars here for just two relatively¹² small Ohio counties. You multiply that by all the counties in the country hit by this opioid epidemic¹³, and it's sort of death by a thousand cuts.

So by settling this now, what these companies do is buy themselves some time to go back to the bargaining table with state attorneys general and others and try to hash out something on the scale of the tobacco deal of the 1990s that really puts this all behind the industry. They didn't get that done here. It's still just a local deal. But it does buy them more time to go back to the bargaining table.

MARTIN: Wow. At this point, Brian, do you have any sense of where all of that money that is - that's been agreed to in these settlements - where it's going to go? I mean, you mentioned it's just these two counties.

MANN: Yeah. So Summit and Cuyahoga counties have begun talking about how they're going to spend this money and - you know, rehab clinics and law enforcement and foster care programs - all the different social service programs that have been hit hard by the opioid epidemic. And what's also going to be happening now is thousands of other communities around the U.S. are going to be sort of reading the tea leaves. If these two counties were able to get this much relief by suing, should we sue, too? Should we sign on to these big, consolidated¹⁴ federal cases that are moving forward? So really, in terms of the policymaking, how the opioid epidemic is going to be treated, this is just another sort of data point that everybody now is going to be kind of figuring out.

MANN: All right. Brian Mann with North Country Public Radio. He covers opioid litigation. Brian, thanks. We appreciate it.

MARTIN: Thank you, Rachel.

1 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 cardinal   

n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的

参考例句：

• This is a matter of cardinal significance.这是非常重要的事。
• The Cardinal coloured with vexation. 红衣主教感到恼火，脸涨得通红。

4 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

5 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

6 severed   

v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂

参考例句：

• The doctor said I'd severed a vessel in my leg. 医生说我割断了腿上的一根血管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have severed diplomatic relations with that country. 我们与那个国家断绝了外交关系。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

8 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。

9 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

10 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

11 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

13 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。

14 consolidated   

a.联合的

参考例句：

• With this new movie he has consolidated his position as the country's leading director. 他新执导的影片巩固了他作为全国最佳导演的地位。
• Those two banks have consolidated and formed a single large bank. 那两家银行已合并成一家大银行。