美国国家公共电台 NPR--1 pharmacist in Vermont provides lethal medications that hasten a patient's death

1 pharmacist in Vermont provides lethal¹ medications that hasten a patient's death

Transcript²

Steve Hochberg is the only pharmacist in Vermont who provides what's called "medical aid in dying" to terminally ill people who choose it. He drives across the state to deliver the medication.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

In Vermont, there is a pharmacist who drives for hours all across the state to deliver a specific type of medication. It's for terminally ill patients who ask him to bring it to hasten their death. Mikaela Lefrak from member station Vermont Public accompanied him during one of his deliveries.

MIKAELA LEFRAK, BYLINE³: Steve Hochberg stands outside an apartment building in Williston, Vermont. He's waiting for his patient Edie Novicki to let him in.

EDIE NOVICKI: Hello.

LEFRAK: Hi there.

NOVICKI: Come on in.

STEVE HOCHBERG: All righty.

LEFRAK: They settle in at her table, and Hochberg opens up a brown paper bag.

(SOUNDBITE OF PAPER BAG RUSTLING)

HOCHBERG: And...

LEFRAK: Inside is a prescription⁴ strong enough to lead to death. He starts with a disclaimer.

HOCHBERG: To begin with - lots of reasons why it doesn't get used. And you know you are not under any pressure or any rule that says you have to use it.

NOVICKI: OK.

HOCHBERG: It's totally up to you. OK?

LEFRAK: Novicki nods. This is what she wants. She has stage 4 stomach cancer and just a few weeks left to live. After getting two doctors to confirm her terminal diagnosis⁵ and making a written request, Novicki got this prescription. Vermont is one of just 10 states and Washington, D.C., where medical aid in dying is legal.

NOVICKI: My doctors are supporting me. My family's supporting me.

HOCHBERG: That's great.

NOVICKI: Yeah.

HOCHBERG: That's great.

NOVICKI: They're still in denial, thinking it's - I'm not going to be using it for a long time.

HOCHBERG: Right.

NOVICKI: But they're not here with me.

LEFRAK: Hochberg's family business, Smilin' Steve Pharmacies⁶, is the only pharmacy⁷ in Vermont that fills prescriptions⁸ for medical aid in dying. He hand-delivers almost every one, no matter where in the state the person lives.

HOCHBERG: I don't mind the driving, and I think this is way too personal of a medication to just drop it in the mail to you.

NOVICKI: Yeah.

LEFRAK: Hochberg starts methodically explaining the process to Novicki. He's patient but frank.

HOCHBERG: You're going to start with these pills.

NOVICKI: OK.

HOCHBERG: There's two of one and one of another.

NOVICKI: And the purpose of these two?

HOCHBERG: Those two are going to help for nausea⁹, vomiting¹⁰ and swallowing. We obviously don't want this coming back.

NOVICKI: Right.

LEFRAK: Whenever she takes the pills, Novicki will then ingest a lethal dose of a couple different drugs mixed into a powder. The medications have to be mixed at a compounding pharmacy. There's only one other one in Vermont besides Hochberg's. He recommends that Novicki mix the powder with apple juice to help her swallow, and he reminds her of an important rule.

HOCHBERG: You have to be the one to hold that vessel¹¹.

LEFRAK: That's part of Vermont's medical aid in dying law. Vermont's a small state - just 650,000 people. Demand for these prescriptions isn't very high. Since it became legal in Vermont in 2013, fewer than 200 people have used medical aid in dying, and Hochberg filled most of those prescriptions. At Edie Novicki's apartment, he finishes explaining the medication.

HOCHBERG: Once you finish this, within a couple of minutes, you will be unconscious. You will not wake up. That's - you'll be at peace at that point. OK?

LEFRAK: Novicki sits quietly with this for a moment.

Let me know if this is too personal. But when you think about taking the medication, how does that make you feel?

NOVICKI: Sad. I'm too young.

HOCHBERG: It's a very difficult choice to make.

NOVICKI: Well, the choice wasn't difficult. The cancer was.

HOCHBERG: Yeah.

LEFRAK: Conversations like this one are exactly why Hochberg drives for hours across the state to deliver these medications.

HOCHBERG: And, you know, we go to school to learn how to help people. There's no other - that was always my view of what pharmacy is. This is the ultimate of help.

NOVICKI: Yeah.

LEFRAK: Once Novicki assures him she has no more questions, Hochberg hugs her goodbye. Then he heads outside to his red pickup¹² truck to make the hour and a half drive back home. He has another delivery tomorrow.

For NPR News, I'm Mikaela Lefrak in Burlington.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MARTIN: Now, if you or someone you know is in crisis, if you may be considering suicide or otherwise hurting yourself, please call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

1 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

6 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

7 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

8 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。

9 nausea   

n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶)

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕期常有恶心的现象。
• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。

10 vomiting   

吐

参考例句：

• Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. 症状有腹泻和呕吐。
• Especially when I feel seasick, I can't stand watching someone else vomiting." 尤其晕船的时候，看不得人家呕。”

11 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

12 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。