美国国家公共电台 NPR From Retirement To The Front Lines Of Hepatitis C Treatment

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

We're going to hear now about a doctor at a free clinic in Florida. His mission is to cure as many people as possible who have hepatitis C. The treatment exists, but the medication costs more than $90,000. So he went directly to the drug company with a proposal. Julio Ochoa of WUSF in Tampa has the story.

JULIO OCHOA, BYLINE¹: When a hepatitis C treatment called Harvoni was released in 2014, Dr. Ronald Cirillo knew it was big.

RONALD CIRILLO: It's the reason that dragged me out of retirement².

OCHOA: Cirillo specialized³ in treating hepatitis C for more than 30 years. During that time, the available treatment for the virus had terrible side effects, and it didn't work very well. It only cured hep C less than half the time. But new drugs called Harvoni and Sovaldi cure almost everybody with few adverse⁴ reactions.

CIRILLO: This is easy, guys. What do you need here? Let's treat them. Let's get rid of this disease and move on to the next hepatitis that's going to come up. But in my lifetime, I've seen it change from a horrible treatment to a manageable treatment.

OCHOA: Cirillo joined the Turning Points free clinic last year. It's in Bradenton about an hour south of Tampa. The clinic primarily serves uninsured Floridians who make too much to qualify for Medicaid but can't get help buying Obamacare insurance. Cirillo is trying to test every high-risk patient he encounters. Today, his assistant pricks⁵ a patient's finger and squeezes blood onto the end of a small plastic tube.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: And this little measuring tool goes into the blood...

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: ...And solution mix there. We're going to time it 20 minutes, and that's it. That's the test. Do we have a little Band-Aid for her?

OCHOA: Nearly 30,000 people in Florida were found to have hepatitis C in 2016, and many more likely have it because the virus can lie dormant⁶ for decades. Cirillo spearheaded a partnership⁷ with Harvoni's maker⁸, Gilead Sciences, that has provided the treatment to about a hundred patients.

CIRILLO: We treat people without any insurance that have no hope. If you qualify to be a patient here, you'll get tested.

OCHOA: A 57-year-old patient named Patricia discovered she had hep C a few months ago during a trip to the clinic. NPR is not using her last name because the virus is associated with illegal IV drug use. It can also spread via sex, but Patricia is not sure how she got it.

PATRICIA: Because of my age I guess, they went ahead and tested me for it and blew my mind that I actually had hep C. And the levels ended up being relatively⁹ high.

OCHOA: The virus had started to scar and inflame¹⁰ her liver. But without insurance or a job, the $94,000 Harvoni treatment was out of reach.

PATRICIA: I would never have been able to afford that treatment - never.

OCHOA: Staff at the clinic helped patients fill out the complicated application from drug maker Gilead. Patients must have no insurance, be drug-free for at least six months and meet income requirements. Patricia received the treatment - one large pill a day for 12 weeks - and will be tested again in three months to determine whether she is free from hepatitis C.

PATRICIA: Had they not discovered it really and gotten me onto the program, who knows, you know?

OCHOA: The Bradenton clinic is just one of many free clinics across Florida, but it's likely the only one that's had so much success treating people with hepatitis C. Cirillo says he hopes to eventually cure the entire population of the deadly virus. For NPR News, I'm Julio Ochoa in Tampa.

(SOUNDBITE OF ISRAEL MEDINA, SAMPLE MAGIC AND DAVID FELTON'S "GOLDEN HAZE")

SIEGEL: And that story was produced with the USC Center for Health Journalism's national fellowship and Kaiser Health News.

(SOUNDBITE OF ISRAEL MEDINA, SAMPLE MAGIC AND DAVID FELTON'S "GOLDEN HAZE")

1 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。

2 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

3 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。

4 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

5 pricks   

刺痛( prick的名词复数 )； 刺孔； 刺痕； 植物的刺

参考例句：

• My skin pricks sometimes. 我的皮肤有时感到刺痛。
• You must obey the rule. It is useless for you to kick against the pricks. 你必须遵守规定，对抗对你是无益的。

6 dormant   

adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的

参考例句：

• Many animals are in a dormant state during winter.在冬天许多动物都处于睡眠状态。
• This dormant volcano suddenly fired up.这座休眠火山突然爆发了。

7 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

8 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

9 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

10 inflame   

v.使燃烧；使极度激动；使发炎

参考例句：

• Our lack of response seemed to inflame the colonel.由于我们没有反应,好象惹恼了那个上校。
• Chemical agents manufactured by our immune system inflame our cells and tissues,causing our nose to run and our throat to swell.我们的免疫系统产生的化学物质导致我们的细胞和组织发炎，导致我们流鼻水和我们的喉咙膨胀。