美国国家公共电台 NPR Addiction Clinics Market Unproven Infusion Treatments To Desperate Patients

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

People who are addicted¹ to illegal drugs are often desperate to try anything to break their addiction². More doctors are now offering proven therapies, but there are also plenty of scammers. These are people who make money off treatments that are unproven and sometimes even dangerous.

Jake Harper of Side Effects Public Media brought us this story from Indianapolis.

JAKE HARPER, BYLINE³: Cheryl remembers going to pick up her son Jason at the addiction treatment center. When she walked in at the end of the day, Jason was lying on the floor, hallucinating.

CHERYL: He was reaching for things. And he was talking to Bill Gates. And he was talking to somebody else that I'm just certain he hasn't met.

HARPER: Cheryl took Jason to that clinic near Indianapolis because she was desperate. Jason was in his 30s, and he had used illegal drugs since he was a teenager. We're using just their first names because of concerns about Jason's employment. A doctor prescribed benzodiazepines for Jason's anxiety, and he started misusing⁴ them. Later, he added heroin⁵ and meth. Over the years, treatment programs hadn't helped. Jason always relapsed.

Then in 2016, Cheryl saw a local TV news story about a place called Emerald Neuro-Recover. The reporter said Emerald's treatment was proven to wipe drug cravings away.

CHERYL: So I called them. And they said, come in. And they sat and talked to me and him for, like, an hour and said, this is going to fix it. And I said, are you sure? And they said, it has never not worked for us. It works for everyone. How could I have fallen for that? But at the time, I really thought Jason - he was so bad, I thought he was going to die.

HARPER: Emerald offers something called NAD therapy. NAD is a coenzyme found in cells. But Emerald and other companies sometimes add amino acids or other nutritional⁶ supplements to create an IV cocktail⁷. Dozens of companies say NAD therapy can treat addiction. Many of them claim it reduces or stops cravings for alcohol or illicit⁸ drugs in up to 90% of patients.

It comes at a cost, though. Emerald told Cheryl it would be $15,000 for two weeks of treatment. Cheryl remembers a staffer kept calling and calling until she finally agreed to pay. She took out an advance on her credit card and met the staffer at a gas station to hand it over.

CHERYL: When I gave her that check, I looked at her and said, this is to save my son's life.

HARPER: Days later, Cheryl found Jason on the floor at Emerald, hallucinating a conversation with Bill Gates. And she started to question the treatment he was getting.

CHERYL: They didn't want to do anything. I said, I think we need to call the hospital. He needs go to the hospital. And they said, no, no, we're not going to call an ambulance.

HARPER: But after Cheryl took Jason home, she decided⁹ to bring him to a hospital anyway, after he tried to throw himself through a wall. Emerald has called NAD therapy the crown jewel of detox and says it can take the brain back to a preaddiction state. But Dr. Emily Zarse, an addiction psychiatrist¹⁰ in Indianapolis, says there's a major problem with claims like these.

EMILY ZARSE: I don't know where those claims could come from, but it doesn't seem realistic to me.

HARPER: She says published research is lacking on NAD therapy for addiction.

ZARSE: There's no actual data on any of these things. So it seems to me like these companies are taking advantage of people.

HARPER: Even if there were substantial evidence, the Food and Drug Administration has not approved NAD therapy for addiction. FDA approval means the treatment has gone through rigorous human clinical trials. Without that approval, companies can't market a treatment for a specific disease. The FDA would not comment on specific cases. And there's no publicly available information showing that it has taken action against companies offering NAD therapy.

Meanwhile, patients like Jason have to judge treatment claims on their own. After Jason ended up in the hospital, he actually started having seizures¹¹; a common symptom of benzodiazepine withdrawal¹². Jason says Emerald took him off the benzos suddenly. That can sometimes be fatal.

JASON: I woke up, like, three or four days later. Basically, they let me leave the hospital. And then I went back to Emerald because I didn't know what else to do.

HARPER: Jason finished the treatment there, but he says it did nothing for his cravings. He relapsed.

JASON: One day out of the blue, I called somebody up, you know, and just was going do it one time and then - you know how that goes.

HARPER: Other patients also say NAD therapy didn't work for them. Some even appeared in positive news stories about Emerald, but later, they got arrested for drug and alcohol offenses¹³.

(SOUNDBITE OF CAR DOOR OPENING)

HARPER: I visited Emerald to ask about NAD therapy. The staff wouldn't connect me to a patient they treated successfully. And Emerald's medical director, Dr. John Humiston, says they don't routinely keep track of patients after they leave. Still, before I was asked to go, Humiston said NAD therapy works.

JOHN HUMISTON: People have a restoration of damaged functions.

HARPER: So you believe in it?

HUMISTON: Nothing's 100%, although for most people, it is 100%. That's been my experience.

HARPER: But it wasn't Jason's experience. Jason and Cheryl asked Emerald for their money back so they could pay off Jason's hospital bill. Instead, the company said he could have more treatments at a discount. Cheryl says she can't believe no one has stopped Emerald yet.

CHERYL: And you've got these people selling the snake oil, and they're getting away with it.

HARPER: Cheryl and Jason reached out to the Indiana attorney general and to the Federal Trade Commission but nothing came of it. They've given up on getting a refund¹⁴.

For NPR News, I'm Jake Harper in Indianapolis.

1 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

2 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。

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 misusing   

v.使用…不当( misuse的现在分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用

参考例句：

• This means we must stop misusing them. 也就是说，我们已必须停止滥用抗菌素不可了。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器
• Misusing organic fertilizer may cause a decrease in the soil's quality. 滥用有机肥料可能会导致土地的土质下降。 来自互联网

5 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。

6 nutritional   

adj.营养的，滋养的

参考例句：

• A diet lacking in nutritional value will not keep a person healthy.缺乏营养价值的饮食不能维持人的健康。
• The labels on food products give a lot of information about their nutritional content.食品上的标签提供很多关于营养成分的信息。

7 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

8 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

9 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。

10 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

11 seizures   

n.起获( seizure的名词复数 )；没收；充公；起获的赃物

参考例句：

• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year. 今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Other causes of unconsciousness predisposing to aspiration lung abscess are convulsive seizures. 造成吸入性肺脓肿昏迷的其他原因，有惊厥发作。 来自辞典例句

12 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

13 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

14 refund   

v.退还，偿还；n.归还，偿还额，退款

参考例句：

• They demand a refund on unsatisfactory goods.他们对不满意的货品要求退款。
• We'll refund your money if you aren't satisfied.你若不满意，我们愿意退款给你。