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(2)（在线收听）

In addition to New York and Massachusetts,

除了纽约州和马萨诸塞州，

Connecticut, Rhode Island and Utah have filed suit against members of the family.

康涅狄格州、罗德岛州和犹他州也已经对该家族的成员提起了诉讼。

Last month, a coalition of more than 500 counties, cities and Native American tribes named the Sacklers in a case in the Southern District of New York,

上个月，在纽约南区的一个案件中，500多个县、市和印第安部落都提到了萨克勒家族，

bringing the family into a bundle of 1,600 opioids cases being overseen by a federal court judge in Cleveland.

将该家族卷入了克利夫兰某联邦法院法官正在审理的1600宗阿片类药物案件。

(The various legal claims also identify many other manufacturers, distributors and pharmacy chains as bearing responsibility for the epidemic.)

(那些诉讼还指认许多其他制造商、分销商和药品连锁店也对这次泛滥负有责任。）

The suits are not only an effort to get at the Sacklers’ personal fortunes —

那些诉讼不仅仅是冲着萨克勒家族的个人财富——

estimated by Forbes to be $13 billion —

据福布斯估计有130亿美元——去的，

but to expose the extent to which the Sacklers themselves have been calling the shots.

也暴露了萨克勒家族的成员（在这次泛滥事件中）发挥了多大程度的发号施令的作用。

"If these allegations against the Sacklers are proven to be correct,

“如果这些针对萨克勒家族的指控证明属实，

that could dramatically change the potential reach of where the litigation goes to collect funds on behalf of the cities and states

就会极大地扭转诉讼以各城市和各州的名义收取资金的收取范围，

that are so desperately trying to get money to deal with the opioid crisis, "

因为这些地区都在拼命地筹措应对阿片类药物危机所需的资金，|

said Adam Zimmerman, an expert on complex litigation at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

洛杉矶洛约拉法学院复杂诉讼专家亚当·齐默尔曼表示。

In a joint statement to The New York Times,

在对本刊发表的联合声明中，

representatives of the eight Sackler family members named as defendants in the New York and Massachusetts cases

被列为纽约州和马萨诸塞州案件被告的萨克勒家族八名成员的发言人说，

said the lawsuits were "filled with claims that are demonstrably false and unsupportable by the actual facts."

那些诉讼“到处都是明显虚假，也没有实际事实支撑的说法”。

The statement also contended that the claims would be refuted by the family’s response this week to the Massachusetts lawsuit.

声明声称，该家庭本周对马萨诸塞州诉讼的回应也会驳倒那些说法。

The statement said the lawsuits "ignore the fact that the Sackler family has long been committed to initiatives that prevent abuse and addiction,"

声明还说，那些诉讼“都忽略了一个事实，那就是萨克勒家族长期以来一直在致力于发起倡议阻止滥用，阻止成瘾，”

citing what it characterized as a philanthropic donation from the family to an addiction research and treatment center in Tulsa, Okla.

为此，声明还提到了所谓的该家族赞助的俄克拉荷马州塔尔萨的一个成瘾研究及治疗中心。

In fact, the $75 million contribution, to be made over five years,

事实上，那笔7500万美元的捐款，分五年付清的，

was a condition of the court-approved settlement of an opioid lawsuit brought by the Oklahoma attorney general against Purdue.

是经过法庭同意的一起司法和解的条件——俄克拉荷马州司法部长曾针对普渡制药提出了一起关于阿片类药物的诉讼。

Regarding Project Tango, a separate statement from some of the Sacklers named in the suits said that

至于“探戈计划”，这些案件提到的萨克勒家族某成员的另一份声明表示，

no board member proposed Tango, or authored any documents in support of it.

“董事会成员并没有提出这一计划，也没有撰写任何支持它的文件。”

Purdue, for its part, said in a court filing in Massachusetts this year that

至于普渡制药公司，该公司今年在马萨诸塞州的一份法庭文件中表示，

it "neither created nor caused the opioid epidemic" there

“这次阿片类药物的泛滥既不是他们促成的，也不是他们导致的，”

and in a statement last week said the company and its former directors "vigorously deny" the New York claims.

在上周的一份声明中，该公司还表示，公司及其前董事都“坚决否认”纽约方面的指控。

Prescription opioids are Food and Drug Administration-approved medications

处方阿片类药物是食品和药物管理局批准的，

that have legitimate uses for certain patients with advanced cancer or short-term severely acute pain,

某些晚期癌症患者或短期严重急性疼痛患者可合法使用的药物，

and are still prescribed, despite limited evidence, for some patients with chronic pain.

目前仍有医生在给某些慢性疼痛患者开这种药，尽管这方面的证据还很有限。

A central concern of the investigations and legal cases against Purdue Pharma over the years, including the 2007 federal investigation,

多年来针对普渡制药公司的调查和法律案件，包括2007年的联邦调查，重点关注的一点就是

has been whether the company, its executives and owners were aware in the late 1990s that OxyContin was being abused.

上世纪90年代末，该公司、其高管及其所有者是否意识到奥施康定被滥用了。

The new lawsuits are notable for the detail they provide about

这批新的案件之所以格外瞩目，是因为

the family’s own continued push to sell opioids in more recent years, as the opioid epidemic became a full-blown national crisis.

从细节上指出了近年来，阿片类药物泛滥已经发展成一场成熟的全国性危机之际，该家族还在继续推动阿片类药物的销售。