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)（在线收听）

It was Arthur Sackler, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketing 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 psychiatrists 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 prescription 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 Killer" 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 sprawling family today is hardly monolithic.

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 abhorrent."

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 lawsuits 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 painkiller that was less addictive 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 stigma 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 detailed 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’ reluctance 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 "epidemic" 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 chronic 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 consultants 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 minuscule risk of addiction.

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。