VOA标准英语2008年-American Drug Company Pfizer Fights Nigerian La

By Leta Hong Fincher
Washington
24 January 2008
 

The world's largest drug company is embroiled¹ in a global controversy² over whether it tested an unapproved drug on sick children in Nigeria without their full understanding. The case involving Pfizer raises questions about how to protect human subjects as American companies conduct more and more drug trials around the world. VOA's Leta Hong Fincher has this report.

In 1996, a meningitis epidemic³ hit the Nigerian state of Kano. Researchers from the American company, Pfizer, treated 100 Nigerian children with the experimental drug, Trovan. The Nigerian government and the Kano state government are suing Pfizer over the drug trial. They say it caused the deaths of 11 children and seriously disabled others.

The Plaintiff's Attorney, Peter Safirstein says, "What Pfizer did here is despicable and reprehensible⁴ and what they did here was to take advantage of young children and use them for an unauthorized and unapproved medical experiment."

Safirstein, of the law firm Milberg Weiss, is representing 30 Nigerian families in a lawsuit⁵ filed in New York. He says Pfizer did not inform the children that they were taking part in a medical experiment and that there were other alternative medications available at the time.

Pfizer has filed its own lawsuit, charging that the report on which the Nigerian government based its claims against the company is illegal and inaccurate⁶. And the company says on its Web site that any deaths during the clinical trial were the direct result of the illness and not the treatment provided to patients.

Pfizer vice⁷ president Dr. Jack⁸ Watters also released a video statement. "This trial was conducted with the full approval of the Nigerian government, with the consent of the parents, the guardians⁹ of the children, and in consistency¹⁰ with the laws of Nigeria," he said.

Whatever the outcome of the lawsuits¹¹, the Pfizer case illustrates¹² the difficulty in protecting human subjects as more and more drug trials are conducted around the world.

International standards such as the Declaration of Helsinki govern the ethics¹³ of drug trials. But some health experts say these regulations are weak and have no enforcement mechanism¹⁴.

"It will always be tempting¹⁵ for any for-profit corporation to go to that place where regulation is the weakest, to that place where human subjects' protections are the worst, really going to the place with the lowest ethical¹⁶ standards, a kind of race to the ethical bottom," says, Dr. Peter Lurie, who is deputy head of health research at the advocacy group, Public Citizen, in Washington. "That temptation will always be there until such time as we have strong international standards. We don't have them now."

Dr. Lurie argues that many citizens of developing countries with poor health infrastructures¹⁷ are desperate for medical treatment and vulnerable to exploitation. "To the extent that they [trial participants] are motivated by desperation and needing to get treatment, to the extent that they believe that they will benefit from being in the trial even though that may not be the case, those are bad reasons for people to be in trials."

Alan Goldhammer is a regulatory official for the Pharmaceutical¹⁸ Research and Manufacturers of America, a lobbying group in Washington.

He says drug trials in developing countries are critical to researching treatments for diseases such as bacterial¹⁹ meningitis, which is rare in the United States. "Our companies are developing new pharmaceuticals²⁰ for a worldwide market. They are also trying to make every effort to address diseases that are common in developing countries and certainly many new antibiotics²¹ that are being developed will have good therapeutic²² use in those countries."

Goldhammer says another reason American companies conduct trials in developing countries is to try to cut the time and cost required for drug development. "It's running now [at] about 800 million dollars to develop a new drug and it's anywhere from 12 to 14 years and clearly for patients who need new therapies this is too long and too costly²³. So we're looking at a variety of ways to try to shorten the time period and reduce the cost."

Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel is head of clinical bioethics at the National Institutes of Health, the primary U.S. medical research agency.

He says the vast majority of drug research does not exploit human subjects. But he says researchers should provide what he calls "fair benefits" to the participants in a drug trial. "Is the community in which you're doing a trial getting other health benefits? Are there economic benefits? Are you preparing the community to be able to do a lot more research and maybe engage in the research enterprise? Are you training people?" he said.

As for Pfizer's 1996 trial of Trovan in Kano, the Nigerian government says the drug company did not behave ethically²⁴. It is seeking compensation for the children and families of those involved.

1 embroiled   

adj.卷入的；纠缠不清的

参考例句：

• He became embroiled in a dispute with his neighbours. 他与邻居们发生了争执。
• John and Peter were quarrelling, but Mary refused to get embroiled. 约翰和彼得在争吵，但玛丽不愿卷入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

3 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。

4 reprehensible   

adj.该受责备的

参考例句：

• Lying is not seen as being morally reprehensible in any strong way.人们并不把撒谎当作一件应该大加谴责的事儿。
• It was reprehensible of him to be so disloyal.他如此不忠，应受谴责。

5 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

6 inaccurate   

adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的

参考例句：

• The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确，而且夸大其词。
• She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

9 guardians   

监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者

参考例句：

• Farmers should be guardians of the countryside. 农民应是乡村的保卫者。
• The police are guardians of law and order. 警察是法律和秩序的护卫者。

10 consistency   

n.一贯性，前后一致，稳定性；(液体的)浓度

参考例句：

• Your behaviour lacks consistency.你的行为缺乏一贯性。
• We appreciate the consistency and stability in China and in Chinese politics.我们赞赏中国及其政策的连续性和稳定性。

11 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

12 illustrates   

给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• This historical novel illustrates the breaking up of feudal society in microcosm. 这部历史小说是走向崩溃的封建社会的缩影。
• Alfred Adler, a famous doctor, had an experience which illustrates this. 阿尔弗莱德 - 阿德勒是一位著名的医生，他有过可以说明这点的经历。 来自中级百科部分

13 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

14 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

15 tempting   

a.诱人的, 吸引人的

参考例句：

• It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
• It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。

16 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。

17 infrastructures   

n.基础设施( infrastructure的名词复数 )；基础结构；行政机构；秘密机构

参考例句：

• Public transportation termini and depots are important infrastructures for a city. 公交场站设施是城市重要的基础设施。 来自互联网
• The increasingly fast urbanization process requires more and more infrastructures. 我国城市化进程不断加快，对城市基础设施的需求也越来越大。 来自互联网

18 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。

19 bacterial   

a.细菌的

参考例句：

• Bacterial reproduction is accelerated in weightless space. 在失重的空间，细菌繁殖加快了。
• Brain lesions can be caused by bacterial infections. 大脑损伤可能由细菌感染引起。

20 pharmaceuticals   

n.医药品；药物( pharmaceutical的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the development of new pharmaceuticals 新药的开发
• The companies are pouring trillions of yen into biotechnology research,especially for pharmaceuticals and new seeds. 这些公司将大量资金投入生物工艺学研究，尤其是药品和新种子方面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 antibiotics   

n.（用作复数）抗生素；（用作单数）抗生物质的研究；抗生素，抗菌素( antibiotic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century 20世纪抗生素的发现
• The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. 医生给我开了抗生素。

22 therapeutic   

adj.治疗的，起治疗作用的；对身心健康有益的

参考例句：

• Therapeutic measures were selected to fit the patient.选择治疗措施以适应病人的需要。
• When I was sad,music had a therapeutic effect.我悲伤的时候，音乐有治疗效力。

23 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

24 ethically   

adv.在伦理上，道德上

参考例句：

• Ethically , we have nothing to be ashamed about . 从伦理上说，我们没有什么好羞愧的。
• Describe the appropriate action to take in an ethically ambiguous situation. 描述适当行为采取在一个道德地模棱两可的情况。