美国国家公共电台 NPR Victims Of Contaminated Steroids Still Hurting: 'My Life's Upside-Down'

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: 

Hundreds of people around the country are still suffering medical complications from getting injections of tainted¹ steroids produced at a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy² in 2012. The former head of New England Compounding Center is on trial in Boston facing federal charges that include racketeering and second-degree murder. The outbreak of fungal infections killed at least 64 people and sickened about 700 more. From member station WBUR, Lynn Jolicoeur reports on some of those who never fully³ recovered.

LYNN JOLICOEUR, BYLINE⁴: Forty-six-year-old Angel Farthing is one of the younger victims of the 2012 fungal infection outbreak.

ANGEL FARTHING: I got very sick. I was vomiting⁵ all the time. I had horrible headaches every day.

JOLICOEUR: It started when she got an injection of a steroid medication that turned out to be contaminated with a fungus⁶.

FARTHING: I had fungal meningitis. I was admitted to the hospital. And when I was released, I ended up having a stroke and developed a brain aneurysm. I was readmitted and I was there for almost another two months.

JOLICOEUR: Now the Maryland resident says she lives with a burning pain over the lower half of her body. Federal prosecutors⁷ say the steroids were mixed in unsanitary conditions with expired ingredients. The compounding pharmacy's former president, Barry Cadden, is on trial right now. His lawyer says Cadden didn't mix the drugs and is being blamed for the mistakes of others at the pharmacy. Bill Thomas of Michigan got one of the tainted shots. He told us about it over Skype.

BILL THOMAS: Before I even got home, I felt I didn't feel right. I felt sick.

JOLICOEUR: Then 58 years old, Thomas also contracted meningitis. And like many of the other patients, he had a severe reaction to the anti-fungal medications doctors used to treat his infection. And that made things worse.

THOMAS: I've gone from being a person who had extreme energy - I was active all day, every day from 6 a.m. till midnight. And now I'm always tired. I'm always in pain. I just can't really function. I can't think. I get confused easily.

JOLICOEUR: Thomas has waited years for his first compensation check from the court settlement with the compounding pharmacy.

THOMAS: I haven't seen a penny.

JOLICOEUR: His lawyer says he'll get a check this week. Many others are still waiting because negotiations⁸ with insurers to determine how much they will be reimbursed⁹ for the victim's care have dragged out the process. In the meantime, many of the victims are anxious for a conviction against the former compounding pharmacy president.

EVELYN MARCH: I hope he gets his butt¹⁰ burned.

JOLICOEUR: Evelyn March is 85. The Michigan resident was healthy and active before the injection that gave her a fungal infection in her spine¹¹. Since the infection, she's bedridden in constant pain.

MARCH: I don't understand why things could be allowed to happen like that. Getting old is bad enough, but then to put something else on to it?

JOLICOEUR: Angel Farthing says she feels like less of a person physically¹². She had to walk away from her business training dance teachers because of her pain. But her greatest loss was immeasurable. Her marriage collapsed¹³ in the midst of the medical ordeal¹⁴, and then her husband took his own life.

FARTHING: He really suffered quite a bit when I was diagnosed. He had to take care of me. He had to bathe me. He had to change me. He had to do my IV. He was a recovering alcoholic¹⁵. And unfortunately, he stopped going to AA meetings and he succumbed¹⁶ to his addiction¹⁷.

JOLICOEUR: Farthing says part of what keeps her going is knowing so many victims in the outbreak didn't get the chance. She plans to go witness a portion of the trial in Boston next week. So does Bill Thomas, though he says just traveling to be there will be physically devastating¹⁸. He hopes the case sends a message.

THOMAS: There's so much greed and carelessness and hubris¹⁹ involved. Tremendous harm was done to a great many people, and that should not be forgotten.

JOLICOEUR: Barry Cadden faces charges in connection with 25 deaths. Another supervisor²⁰ from the compounding pharmacy will face trial on similar charges separately. For NPR News, I'm Lynn Jolicoeur in Boston.

1 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 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。

5 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。”

6 fungus   

n.真菌，真菌类植物

参考例句：

• Mushrooms are a type of fungus.蘑菇是一种真菌。
• This fungus can just be detected by the unaided eye.这种真菌只用肉眼就能检查出。

7 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。

8 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

9 reimbursed   

v.偿还，付还( reimburse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Any out-of-pocket expenses incurred on the firm's business will be reimbursed. 由公司业务产生的开销都可以报销。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Employees are reimbursed for any legal fees incurred when they relocate. 员工调往异地工作时，他们可以报销由此产生的所有法律服务费用。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。

11 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

12 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

13 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

14 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

15 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。

16 succumbed   

不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死

参考例句：

• The town succumbed after a short siege. 该城被围困不久即告失守。
• After an artillery bombardment lasting several days the town finally succumbed. 在持续炮轰数日后，该城终于屈服了。

17 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。

18 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

19 hubris   

n.傲慢，骄傲

参考例句：

• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。
• The very hubris of French claims alarmed the other powers.法国贪婪的胃口使其他大国惊恐不安。

20 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。