2021年经济学人 美国成瘾药物滥用成灾(1)

Books & arts

文艺板块

Book review

书评

Opioids in America

美国阿片类药物

Bitter pills

让人更痛苦的药物

Empire of Pain. By Patrick Radden Keefe.

《痛苦帝国》。作者：帕特里克·雷登·基夫

At 50,000 overdose deaths a year and rising, America’s opioid crisis has never been worse. What began in the late 1990s as an epidemic¹ of prescription² pain-pill abuse morphed into a worse one of illicit³ heroin⁴ and, later, fentanyl. Prosecutors⁵ and the public have zeroed in on Purdue Pharma, which introduced the blockbuster drug OxyContin in 1996. Of the colossal⁶ revenues it generated, some $13bn was paid to the company’s previously⁷ low-profile owners, members of the Sackler family, who have recently sunk from honoured arts patrons to society pariahs⁸.

每年有5万人死于用药过量，而且死亡人数还在上升，美国的阿片危机从未像现在这样糟糕。阿片危机开始于20世纪90年代末，当时处方止痛药的滥用情况十分盛行，之后就演变成了更为严重的非法海洛因滥用，然后是芬太尼滥用。检察官和公众将矛头对准了普渡制药公司，该公司于1996年推出了轰动一时的药物奥施康定。普渡制药公司拿出了其创造的巨额收入中的约130亿美元支付给低调的前任公司所有者，即萨克勒家族的成员，他们最近从受人尊敬的艺术赞助人沦落为社会渣滓。

Patrick Radden Keefe’s excellent new book tells the story of this now-infamous clan⁹. He traces the empire of the title to Brooklyn in 1920, and a trio of brothers born to Jewish immigrants: Arthur (the eldest¹⁰ and, in Mr Keefe’s telling, the “patriarch”), Raymond and Mortimer. Arthur Sackler’s business acumen¹¹ and questionable¹² ethical¹³ judgment¹⁴ proved lucrative¹⁵. He in effect invented the field of medical advertising¹⁶, creating the first family fortune after aggressively marketing¹⁷ the sedatives¹⁸ Librium and Valium to doctors, without a serious study of the addiction¹⁹ risks. A fascination²⁰ with Chinese artefacts led him to bequeath huge sums to prestigious²¹ museums. For decades the Sackler name would primarily be associated with that largesse²².

帕特里克·雷登·基夫在新书中讲述了这个如今臭名昭著的家族的故事。他把痛苦帝国追溯到了1920年的布鲁克林，以及犹太移民所生的三兄弟：亚瑟（长兄，基夫先生将其描述为“族长”）、雷蒙德和莫蒂默。事实证明，亚瑟·萨克勒的商业头脑和不正当的道德判断让他赚了大钱。事实上，亚瑟发明了医疗广告领域，他在没有认真研究成瘾风险的情况下，积极向医生推销镇定剂利眠宁和安定，并以此创造了第一笔家族财富。对中国艺术品的迷恋让他向享有盛誉的博物馆遗赠巨款。几十年来，萨克勒的名字基本与赠款绑定了。

Arthur died in 1987, almost a decade before Purdue, which the brothers had acquired in 1952, began selling OxyContin. By the time that happened, his branch of the family no longer held a stake—facts that its members hope will exonerate²³ them from the taint²⁴ of the “OxySacklers”. But after a gripping if lengthy²⁵ account of the patriarch’s career in the first third of his book, Mr Keefe’s view is less forgiving. “So many of the antecedents of the saga²⁶ of OxyContin could be found in the life of Arthur Sackler,” he concludes.

亚瑟于1987年去世，比普渡制药公司（萨克勒于1952年收购了普渡）开始销售奥施康定早了近10年。奥施康定销售之时，萨克勒家族成员已经不再持有普渡公司的股份，萨克勒家族成员希望凭借这一事实与“奥施萨克勒”的污点撇清干系。但基夫先是在《痛苦帝国》中以前三分之一的篇幅对亚瑟族长的职业生涯进行了引人入胜而又冗长的描述，然后他的观点就没有那么宽容了。基夫总结说：“我们在亚瑟·萨克勒的一生中能够发现许多奥施康定诞生的前因。”

For the other two brothers and their descendants, Purdue yielded money beyond even Arthur’s imaginings. “The prescription blizzard²⁷ will be so deep, dense²⁸ and white,” Richard Sackler, son of Raymond, promised at the launch party for OxyContin. His words proved all too prophetic. The plan for mass-market opioids was abetted²⁹ by misleading advertising, which claimed that less than 1% of patients would become addicted³⁰, and a vast salesforce incentivised by lucrative commissions.

对于另外两兄弟和他们的后代来说，普渡制药所盈利的钱甚至超出了亚瑟的想象。雷蒙德的儿子理查德·萨克勒在奥施康定的发布会上承诺：“处方药将像深厚、稠密、雪白的暴风雪一样铺天盖地。”事实证明，他的话非常有预见性。大规模销售阿片类药物的计划受到误导性广告的推波助澜，这些广告声称只有不到1%的患者会上瘾，而利润丰厚的佣金刺激着庞大的销售队伍。

1 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。

2 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

3 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

4 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

5 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

6 colossal   

adj.异常的，庞大的

参考例句：

• There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
• Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。

7 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

8 pariahs   

n.被社会遗弃者( pariah的名词复数 )；贱民

参考例句：

• Despite the trading frenzy, Fannie and Freddie have become pariahs. 尽管他们仍旧被疯狂的交易着，但是两房已经沦为末流。 来自互联网
• This effect remains until the Pariahs are eliminated. 直到贱民的这一个效果残余物被除去。 来自互联网

9 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

10 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

11 acumen   

n.敏锐，聪明

参考例句：

• She has considerable business acumen.她的经营能力绝非一般。
• His business acumen has made his very successful.他的商业头脑使他很成功。

12 questionable   

adj.可疑的，有问题的

参考例句：

• There are still a few questionable points in the case.这个案件还有几个疑点。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions.你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

13 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。

14 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

15 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

16 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

17 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

18 sedatives   

n.镇静药，镇静剂( sedative的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A wide variety of mild sedatives and tranquilizers have become available. 现在有许多种镇静剂和安定剂。 来自辞典例句
• Since July 1967 there has been a restriction on the prescribing of sedatives in Australia. 自从1967年7月起，澳大利亚的镇静药处方受到限制。 来自辞典例句

19 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。

20 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

21 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

22 largesse   

n.慷慨援助，施舍

参考例句：

• She is not noted for her largesse.没人听说过她出手大方。
• Our people are in no need of richer nations' largesse.我国人民不需要富国的施舍。

23 exonerate   

v.免除责任，确定无罪

参考例句：

• Nothing can exonerate her from that.任何解释都难辞其咎。
• There is no reason to exonerate him from the ordinary duties of a citizen.没有理由免除他做公民应尽的义务。

24 taint   

n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染

参考例句：

• Everything possible should be done to free them from the economic taint.应尽可能把他们从经济的腐蚀中解脱出来。
• Moral taint has spread among young people.道德的败坏在年轻人之间蔓延。

25 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

26 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。

27 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

28 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

29 abetted   

v.教唆（犯罪）( abet的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；怂恿；支持

参考例句：

• He was abetted in the deception by his wife. 他行骗是受了妻子的怂恿。
• They aided and abetted in getting the police to catch the thief. 他们协助警察抓住了小偷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

30 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。