美国国家公共电台 NPR--Federal judge sides with 3 major drug distributors in a landmark opioid lawsuit

Federal judge sides with 3 major drug distributors in a landmark¹ opioid lawsuit²

Transcript³

In the West Virginia case, the federal judge ruled that three drug distributors are not responsible for paying to clean up the addiction⁴ crisis. It's a major victory for the drug industry.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

In a landmark opioid case in West Virginia, a federal judge ruled that three major drug distributors are not responsible for funding the treatment programs for the addiction crisis.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

It's a major victory for the drug industry, and it's a setback⁵ to local officials who say corporations flooded their community with highly addictive⁶ pain pills.

FADEL: NPR's addiction correspondent, Brian Mann, has been following this case. Hi, Brian.

BRIAN MANN, BYLINE⁷: Hi, Leila.

FADEL: So, Brian, remind us what these companies were accused of doing and what local governments were asking for.

MANN: So this lawsuit involved Cabell County and the city of Huntington in West Virginia. These are places absolutely devastated⁸ by the opioid crisis. I've actually spent time there, Leila, over the last couple of years and seen the high rates of addiction and overdose, whole families and neighborhoods really ravaged⁹. And government officials tried to make the case that these big drug distributors, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal¹⁰ Health and McKesson, kept sending more and more of these highly addictive pain pills to pharmacies¹¹ there long after it was clear there was this deadly crisis. Communities also presented evidence suggesting the companies didn't put enough safeguards in place to stop suspicious orders of opioids. Attorneys for the communities arguing, in effect, these companies contributed to the opioid crisis, so they should have to pay billions of dollars to help clean it up.

FADEL: Now, there was no jury in this trial. It was decided¹² by a judge. What did he say?

MANN: Yeah. So federal Judge David Faber heard this case almost a year ago and finally issued his ruling yesterday on the holiday, Fourth of July. And he acknowledged these communities have been hit hard by opioids. But then he flatly rejected their legal arguments. He said they failed to prove any specific acts by these companies caused the oversupply¹³ of opioids. He points out doctors wrote prescriptions¹⁵ for these pills. And Judge Faber also says there wasn't clear evidence that negligence¹⁶ by the companies allowed opioid pills to wind up on the black market. And I want to read from the ruling here. While there is a natural tendency to assign blame in such cases, Faber writes, they must be decided based not on sympathy but on the facts and the law. So, Leila, that means these companies won't pay anything.

FADEL: So they won't pay. What happens to these communities?

MANN: It's going to be hard. The opioid crisis has gotten worse over the last couple of years, 107,000 overdose deaths nationwide last year alone. A lot of people have been switching from prescription¹⁴ pain pills to heroin¹⁷ and then fentanyl, which means more overdoses and deaths. So these communities don't have the money to pay for all the addiction services and health care and foster care and other programs that might help. The mayor of Huntington, Steve Williams, said in a statement late yesterday that this decision is a blow to his city. And he again claimed that these companies - and I'm quoting here - "are part of a powerful industry responsible for fueling the epidemic¹⁸."

FADEL: Now, you've described this as a landmark case. What will this ruling mean in other opioid cases across the country?

MANN: Yeah, AmerisourceBergen issued a statement yesterday praising the decision. And it is clearly a huge victory for the drug industry. There are thousands of opioid lawsuits¹⁹ underway - right now, another one slated²⁰ to get underway in West Virginia this morning. This trial in federal court was what's known as a bellwether²¹ test case. So the outcome is a blow to communities all over the U.S. that have been trying to use similar legal arguments to the ones used by Huntington and Cabell County. What we've seen here, Leila, in this decision is that proving patterns of wrongdoing by Big Pharma, holding companies accountable - it's extremely hard to do.

FADEL: NPR's Brian Mann, thank you so much.

MANN: Thank you.

1 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

2 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。

3 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。

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 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

6 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。

7 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。

8 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

9 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

10 cardinal   

n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的

参考例句：

• This is a matter of cardinal significance.这是非常重要的事。
• The Cardinal coloured with vexation. 红衣主教感到恼火，脸涨得通红。

11 pharmacies   

药店

参考例句：

• Still, 32 percent of the pharmacies filled the prescriptions. 但仍然有32%的药剂师配发了这两张药方。 来自互联网
• Chinese herbal pharmacies, and traditional massage therapists in the Vancouver telephone book. 中药店，和传统的按摩师在温哥华的电话簿里。 来自互联网

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 oversupply   

n.供应过量；v.过度供给

参考例句：

• The market softened because of oversupply.市场因供过于求而疲软。
• Overexpansion of tea fields has led to oversupply.茶园过度扩张，使得市场上逐渐供过于求。

14 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。

15 prescriptions   

药( prescription的名词复数 )； 处方； 开处方； 计划

参考例句：

• The hospital of traditional Chinese medicine installed a computer to fill prescriptions. 中医医院装上了电子计算机来抓药。
• Her main job was filling the doctor's prescriptions. 她的主要工作就是给大夫开的药方配药。

16 negligence   

n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意

参考例句：

• They charged him with negligence of duty.他们指责他玩忽职守。
• The traffic accident was allegedly due to negligence.这次车祸据说是由于疏忽造成的。

17 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。

18 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。

19 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

20 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

21 bellwether   

n.系铃的公羊，前导，领导者，群众的首领

参考例句：

• University campuses are often the bellwether of change.大学校园往往引领变革的新潮。
• For decades the company was the bellwether of the British economy.几十年来，这家公司一直是英国经济的晴雨表。