商业周刊:阻止自杀的药物(2)

The reasons it isn't aren't strictly¹ medical.

这种药物尚未获批，并非完全出于医疗方面的原因。

Over the past three decades, pharmaceutical² companies have conducted hundreds of trials for at least 10 antidepressants to treat severe PMS, social anxiety disorder³, and any number of conditions.

过去三十年来，制药公司已经对至少10种抗抑郁药进行了数百次试验，旨在治疗严重的经前综合症、社交焦虑症等疾病。

What they've almost never done is test their drugs on the sickest people, those on the verge⁴ of suicide.

但他们几乎从未在病情最严重的患者，即那些濒临自杀的人身上测试过这些药物。

There are ethical⁵ considerations: Doctors don't want to give a placebo⁶ to a person who's about to kill himself.

这里面有出于道德方面的考虑，医生不想给即将自杀的人服用安慰剂。

And reputational concerns: A suicide in a drug trial could hurt a medication's sales prospects⁷.

此外，还涉及声誉问题。如果在药物试验过程中出现患者自杀事件，可能会损害药物的销售前景。

The risk-benefit calculation has changed amid the suicide epidemic⁸ in the U.S. From 1999 to 2016, the rate of suicides increased by 30 percent.

在1999年至2016年美国自杀事件频繁出现期间，风险收益的计算发生了变化，自杀率增长30%。

It's now the second-leading cause of death for 10- to 34-year-olds, behind accidents. (Globally the opposite is true: Suicide is decreasing.)

目前，10到34岁人的死亡原因中，自杀排名第二，仅次于意外事故的发生率。（而从全球范围看，情况却恰恰相反：自杀率正在下降。）

Growing economic disparity, returning veterans traumatized by war, the opioid crisis, easy access to guns—these have all been cited as reasons for the rise in America.

不断增大的贫富差距、遭受战争创伤的退伍军人、阿片类药物危机、容易获得枪支等，都被认为是美国自杀率升高的原因。

There's been no breakthrough in easing any of these circumstances. But there is, finally, a serious quest for a suicide cure.

虽然上述各种问题还没有任何缓解的方法，但好在人们终于开始认真地探索治疗自杀的途径了。

Ketamine is at the center, and crucially the pharmaceutical industry now sees a path.

氯胺酮就是关注的焦点，至关重要的是，制药行业现在看到了一条道路。

The first ketamine-based drug, from Johnson & Johnson, could be approved for treatment-resistant depression by March and suicidal thinking within two years.

强生公司生产的第一种氯胺酮类药物，可能在3月前获批用于抗抑郁治疗，并在两年内获批用于自杀性思维的治疗。

Allergan Plc is not far behind in developing its own fast acting⁹ antidepressant that could help suicidal patients. How this happened is one of the most hopeful tales of scientific research in recent memory.

健康医疗公司爱力根公司也紧随其后，正在研发能够帮助自杀患者的抗抑郁速效药。这也是近些年来，最能使人怀抱希望的一则科研传奇。

Dennis Charney, Dean of the Icahn School of at Mount Sinai in New York, works from an office filled with family pictures, diplomas, and awards from a long career in research.

纽约西奈山伊坎学院院长丹尼斯·查尼所工作的办公室中，摆满了他和家人的照片、学位证书，以及长期从事研究工作获得的各种奖项。

One thing on the wall is different from the rest: a patent for the use of a nasal-spray form of ketamine as a treatment for suicidal patients.

而办公室的墙上挂着一件与众不同的物品，那是用于治疗自杀患者的一种喷雾式氯胺酮的专利证书。

The story of the drug is in some ways the story of Charney's career.

这种药物的研发故事，在某种程度上也是查尼的职业生涯故事。

1 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

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 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

4 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

5 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

6 placebo   

n.安慰剂；宽慰话

参考例句：

• The placebo has been found to work with a lot of different cases.人们已发现安慰剂能在很多不同的病例中发挥作用。
• The placebo effect refers to all the observable behaviors caused by placebo.安慰剂效应是指由安慰剂所引起的可观察的行为。

7 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

8 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。

9 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。