Shortage of life-saving heart drug

 　　BEIJING, Sep. 13 (Xinhuanet) --Experts have called for a national drug-control system after a nationwide deficit¹ of a life-saving drug, which has lasted at least three months.

　　Doctors at a Beijing hospital said some specialized² hospitals, which perform hundreds of cardiac operations every month, have been paralyzed by their lack of protamine sulfate, which is commonly administered after heart surgery to reverse the anticoagulant effects of heparin.

　　The earliest report of a shortage was in Hubei province on July 21. This was followed by reports of shortages in Guangdong, Shandong and Liaoning provinces.

　　The Shandong newspaper, Qilu Evening News, quoted a regional sales manager, surnamed Zhuang, as saying the province had been allocated³ 150 doses of protamine sulfate after Shanghai No 1 Biochemical and Pharmaceutical⁴ Co Ltd recently resumed production of the drug.

　　"But its monthly use here is usually 10,000 doses," he said.

　　The Ministry⁵ of Health has denied it is responsible for supplies of the drug and passed the buck⁶ to the State Food and Drug Administration, claiming the latter is responsible for the supervision⁷ of medicines.

　　Shen Chen, head of the publicity⁸ office of the State Food and Drug Administration, said he was unaware⁹ of the shortage, but said the administration is responsible for the quality of medicines, not the supply.

　　"Development and reform authorities oversee¹⁰ the medicines' prices, while the industrial and commercial authorities oversee the storage. The food and drug departments only cover the approval and quality of medicines."

　　Industry insiders said one of the reasons for the shortage was the low profit margin¹¹, which discourages companies from mass producing the drug.

　　"Some companies can't earn enough to recover their costs, therefore it is almost impossible to maintain their enthusiasm for continuing production," said Lu Guoping, secretary-general of the Shanghai Pharmaceutical Trade Association.

　　Lu said the government should issue policies to prevent future shortages of such medicines to avoid possible nationwide public health incidents.

　　Yi Shenghua, a lawyer at Beijing Yingke Law Firm, said the country should have a unified¹² system to guarantee the normal supply of medicines that are widely used and drug manufacturers should fulfill¹³ their responsibilities to society, even though there is no law stipulating¹⁴ they should produce specific medicines.

　　He came up with two ways to deal with the problem of companies only producing profitable drugs.

　　"The government can order businesses to manufacture a certain amount of cheap medicines. Or it can offer financial assistance to subsidize cheap, but life-saving medicines."

1 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

2 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

3 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

4 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。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

7 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

8 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

9 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

10 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

11 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

12 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

13 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

14 stipulating   

v.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的现在分词 )；规定，明确要求

参考例句：

• Shall we first sign a barter trade agreement stipulating the general terms and conditions? 我们先签一个易货贸易协议，规定一般性条款，行吗？ 来自互联网
• The other firm are stipulating for and early exchange of information regarding the contract. 作为协议条件，另一家公司坚持要求早日交换有关合同的信息。 来自互联网