美国国家公共电台 NPR--Victims of the opioid crisis formally confront the Sackler family

Victims of the opioid crisis formally confront the Sackler family

Transcript¹

Members of the Sackler family didn't respond as people confronted them during a court hearing about the harm caused by their company Purdue Pharma and its highly addictive² pain medication OxyContin.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Members of the Sackler family had to listen yesterday. A court required them to hear testimony³ from people who say their lives were destroyed by the Sacklers' company, Purdue Pharma. That company aggressively sold OxyContin. NPR addiction⁴ correspondent Brian Mann was there. Brian, good morning.

BRIAN MANN, BYLINE⁵: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: What did you hear?

MANN: A lot of sorrow, a lot of anger. You know, this opioid crisis has killed half a million people in the U.S., millions more suffering addiction and loss. And that pain just came out in this court hearing. People who spoke⁶ in federal bankruptcy⁷ court put a lot of the blame right at the feet of the three members of the Sackler family who attended the hearing. They blasted the Sacklers for earning billions of dollars pushing opioid sales long after it was clear addiction rates and overdose deaths were surging. Here's one of the people who spoke, Ryan Hampton, who survived OxyContin addiction.

RYAN HAMPTON: I am one of the millions of people you preyed⁸ on to make your fortune. I am one of the living survivors⁹ of your monumental greed. You dedicated¹⁰ your life to ruining ours.

MANN: Hampton read there from his prepared remarks during an interview with NPR.

INSKEEP: Brian, I'm trying to imagine the Sacklers' response to this. I could imagine people feeling terrible that they're being accused of these things. I could imagine them rolling their eyes because they've resisted a lot of these accusations¹¹ and they're still very wealthy. Do you have a sense of their reaction?

MANN: They offered no reaction. You know, this all happened on a Zoom¹² call. David Sackler and Theresa Sackler were visible the entire time on screen. They showed no expression, Steve, no emotion, never spoke. Richard Sackler wasn't visible on screen. He was also silent. That lack of response was especially sort of poignant¹³ when family members held up photographs of their dead children. Cheryl Juaire brought pictures of her two boys, Corey and Sean, who both died of fatal overdoses, one just last summer. And I asked her why parents thought it was important to show these pictures.

CHERYL JUAIRE: Because they never want their child to be forgotten. We bring them out. We talk about them all the time just so nobody will forget them.

MANN: The Sacklers have long maintained they did nothing wrong in all of this, nothing illegal or unethical. They've repeatedly declined to offer an apology, though their company, Purdue Pharma, has pleaded guilty to federal crimes twice for its opioid sales practices.

INSKEEP: OK, so no apology, no special reaction to the stories being told. But did people get any comfort just from telling them?

MANN: Yeah, this was obviously a cathartic¹⁴ moment for a lot of folks. They said - they told me it was important to speak to the Sacklers, be heard by the Sacklers. Kara Trainor was addicted¹⁵ to OxyContin, and she says her 11-year-old boy is now disabled after being born opioid dependent.

KARA TRAINOR: It has impacted me, and now it's impacting my son. That's why I'm here. I think it was really important for our voices to be heard. I think that's part of healing and closure maybe.

MANN: So now victims have had their say, and Judge Robert Drain is expected to approve a bankruptcy settlement with the Sacklers, where they'll pay roughly $6 billion in exchange for immunity¹⁶ from future opioid lawsuits¹⁷. The Sacklers fought hard to win that legal protection. This is a big victory for them. But I have to say, Steve, people who testified yesterday told me this hearing was part of an equally important fight to shape the way the Sacklers will be viewed by history. They were once one of the most respected philanthropic families in the world, and now museums and universities continue to sever¹⁸ ties with the Sacklers and strip their name off buildings.

INSKEEP: Brian, as always, thanks for your work.

MANN: Thank you, Steve.

INSKEEP: Brian Mann is NPR's addiction correspondent.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 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。

3 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

4 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。

5 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。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

8 preyed   

v.掠食( prey的过去式和过去分词 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生

参考例句：

• Remorse preyed upon his mind. 悔恨使他内心痛苦。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He had been unwise and it preyed on his conscience. 他做得不太明智，这一直让他良心不安。 来自辞典例句

9 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

10 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

11 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

12 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

13 poignant   

adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的

参考例句：

• His lyrics are as acerbic and poignant as they ever have been.他的歌词一如既往的犀利辛辣。
• It is especially poignant that he died on the day before his wedding.他在婚礼前一天去世了，这尤其令人悲恸。

14 cathartic   

adj.宣泄情绪的；n.泻剂

参考例句：

• His laughter was cathartic,an animal yelp that brought tears to his eyes.他哈哈大笑以宣泄情绪，声音如野兽般尖厉，眼泪都笑出来了。
• The drug had a cathartic effect.这药有导泻的作用。

15 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

16 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

17 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

18 sever   

v.切开，割开；断绝，中断

参考例句：

• She wanted to sever all her connections with the firm.她想断绝和那家公司的所有联系。
• We must never sever the cultural vein of our nation.我们不能割断民族的文化血脉。