纽约时报 摧毁阿片类药物之际 普渡制药家族嗅到了新的商机(4)

It was Arthur Sackler, a psychiatrist¹ and pharmaceutical² marketing³ guru

帮助开创了电视购物广告，开启该家族企业王朝的

who helped pioneer the infomercial, who started the family business dynasty.

是阿瑟·萨克勒——一位精神科医生兼医药营销教父。

In 1952, he and his two younger brothers, Mortimer and Raymond (who were also psychiatrists⁴ and who have since died),

1952年，他和两个弟弟莫蒂默和雷蒙德（两人也是精神科医生，目前均已过世），

bought a small company called Purdue Frederick.

买下了一家名为“普渡弗雷德里克”的小公司。

Their first products included laxatives and a prescription⁵ earwax remover,

他们初期销售的产品包括泻药和一种处方耳垢清除剂，

as recounted in the book "Pain Killer⁶" by Barry Meier, a former New York Times reporter.

正如《纽约时报》前记者巴里·迈耶在《止痛药》一书中所写的那样。

The sprawling⁷ family today is hardly monolithic⁸.

但我们很难说今天这个庞大的家庭依然还是一个整体。

Arthur’s branch has not been involved in Purdue for many years,

亚瑟负责的机构很多年都没参与该公司的事务了，

and one of his children, Elizabeth A.Sackler, has called Purdue Pharma’s role in the opioid crisis "morally abhorrent⁹."

他的一个女儿伊丽莎白·萨克勒还说，该公司在阿片类药物危机中扮演的角色“在道义上令人不齿”。

But reporting published last year by ProPublica and The Atlantic suggested that

但ProPublica和《大西洋月刊》去年发表的报道显示，

Arthur’s side of the family may have reaped some financial benefit from Purdue after OxyContin hit the market.

奥斯康定上市后，亚瑟的后人可能也分得了一些利润。

The lawsuits¹⁰ brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts, Letitia James and Maura Healey,

纽约州和马萨诸塞州检察长莱蒂夏·詹姆斯和莫拉·希利在他们提出的诉讼中

named eight Sackler family members:

列出了八名萨克雷家族成员的名字：

Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt — children of either Mortimer or Raymond Sackler —

凯特、(小)莫蒂默、理查德、乔纳森和艾琳·萨克勒——这些人要么是莫蒂默的孩子，要么是雷蒙德的孩子——

along with Theresa Sackler, the elder Mortimer’s widow;

以及老莫蒂默的遗孀特里萨·萨克勒;

Beverly Sackler, Raymond’s widow; and David Sackler, a grandson of Raymond.

雷蒙德的遗孀贝弗利·萨克勒以及雷蒙德的孙子大卫·萨克勒。

Purdue’s business was fundamentally changed after the F.D.A. approved OxyContin in 1995.

食品与药品管理局1995年批准使用奥施康定之后，普渡制药的业务便发生了根本性的转变。

The company marketed the drug as a long-acting painkiller¹¹ that was less addictive¹² than shorter-acting rivals like Percocet and Vicodin,

该公司将该药宣传为一种比扑热息痛或维柯丁之类的短效止痛药成瘾性更低的长效止痛药，

a strategy aimed at reducing the stigma¹³ attached to opioids among doctors.

这一策略是为了缓解医生们给阿片类药物贴的污名。

The court filings detailed¹⁴ a multipronged approach used by the pharmaceutical industry at that time

法庭文件详细描述了制药行业当时

to reshape public perceptions about pain

为了重塑公众对疼痛的看法，

and chip away at physicians’ reluctance¹⁵ to prescribe opioids, long known to be addictive,

消除医生不愿开早就有会上瘾这一名声的阿片类药物处方的疑虑，

by describing an "epidemic¹⁶" of untreated pain affecting 100 million Americans.

而采取了多管齐下的办法，声称一种疼痛“流行病”影响了上亿美国人，这些人却没有得到治疗。

Manufacturers funded "front groups" that were "disguised as ‘unbiased’ sources of cutting-edge medical research and information,"

制造商们还会资助“伪装成前沿医学研究及信息的‘公正’来源”的“前沿小组”，

according to the New York attorney general’s office,

纽约总检察长办公室透露，

ostensibly to educate the public about chronic¹⁷ pain and the benefits of opioids.

表面上是为了让公众了解慢性疼痛和阿片类药物的好处。

Physicians were paid as consultants¹⁸ to further spread their message.

作为帮助他们进一步传播信息的顾问，医生也会拿到一定的报酬。

The companies claimed that opioids were safer than high doses of acetaminophen and other anti-inflammatory agents

这些公司声称阿片类药物比大剂量的对乙酰氨基酚和其他消炎药更安全，

and that there was a minuscule¹⁹ risk of addiction²⁰.

上瘾的风险也很小。

At Purdue, sales representatives focused on doctors who were high-volume opioid prescribers,

普渡制药的销售代表会主要针对那些开大量阿片类药物处方的医生，

as well as inexperienced providers and primary care physicians who knew little about pain management,

以及缺乏经验的供应商和对疼痛管理知之甚少的初级保健医生，

encouraging them to prescribe higher and higher doses for longer stretches of time,

鼓励他们给患者开出越来越高的剂量，并延长患者服用的时间。

according to the court filings.

法庭文件显示。

Sales representatives could earn tens of thousands of dollars in bonuses and were rewarded with trips to tropical islands.

他们则可以获得数万美元的奖金，甚至还能获得前往热带岛屿旅游的奖励。

1 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

2 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。

3 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

4 psychiatrists   

n.精神病专家，精神病医生( psychiatrist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They are psychiatrists in good standing. 他们是合格的精神病医生。 来自辞典例句
• Some psychiatrists have patients who grow almost alarmed at how congenial they suddenly feel. 有些精神分析学家发现，他们的某些病人在突然感到惬意的时候几乎会兴奋起来。 来自名作英译部分

5 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。

6 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

7 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

8 monolithic   

adj.似独块巨石的；整体的

参考例句：

• Don't think this gang is monolithic.不要以为这帮人是铁板一块。
• Mathematics is not a single monolithic structure of absolute truth.数学并不是绝对真理的单一整体结构。

9 abhorrent   

adj.可恶的，可恨的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• He is so abhorrent,saying such bullshit to confuse people.他这样乱说，妖言惑众，真是太可恶了。
• The idea of killing animals for food is abhorrent to many people.许多人想到杀生取食就感到憎恶。

10 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

11 painkiller   

n.止痛药

参考例句：

• I shall persuade him to take the painkiller.我将说服他把药吃下去。
• The painkiller only provides him a short respite from his pain.止痛药仅仅让他在疼痛中有短暂的疏解。

12 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

13 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

14 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

15 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

16 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。

17 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

18 consultants   

顾问( consultant的名词复数 )； 高级顾问医生，会诊医生

参考例句：

• a firm of management consultants 管理咨询公司
• There're many consultants in hospital. 医院里有很多会诊医生。

19 minuscule   

adj.非常小的；极不重要的

参考例句：

• The human race only a minuscule portion of the earth's history.人类只有占有极小部分地球历史。
• As things stand,Hong Kong's renminbi banking system is minuscule.就目前的情况而言，香港的人民币银行体系可谓微不足道。

20 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。