2021年经济学人 美国成瘾药物滥用成灾(2)（在线收听）

The company peddled theories of “pseudo-addiction” (for which the cure was said to be more opioids) and of “opiophobia” among sceptical doctors. The guardrails against harm buckled in the face of Purdue’s wealth and the lawyers and lobbyists it could buy. Regulators endorsed ludicrous claims about the drug’s safety. A serious case brought by federal prosecutors in Virginia in the early 2000s was watered down by the Department of Justice. Thousands of doctors were given all-expenses-paid trips. Altogether, OxyContin took in $35bn in sales.

普渡制药公司向持怀疑态度的医生散播“假性成瘾”（据说治疗方法是服用更多的阿片类药物）和“阿片药恐惧症”的理论。普渡制药的财富以及它能够收买的律师和说客让防范危险的护栏垮了。监管机构认可了有关奥施康定安全性的荒唐说法。本世纪初，弗吉尼亚州联邦检察官提起的一起严重案件被司法部大事化了。普渡制药还承担了数千名医生的全部旅行费用。奥施康定的总销售额为350亿美元。

The results were brutal. Other drug manufacturers soon followed Purdue’s lead. When OxyContin was reformulated in 2010 to make it more difficult to abuse, many Americans who were already addicted switched to heroin and, eventually, fentanyl. In 2019 a team of economists rigorously evaluating OxyContin’s impact concluded that its introduction and marketing “explain a substantial share of overdose deaths” over 20 years.

结果很残酷。其他药品生产商很快效仿了普渡制药公司的做法。2010年，普渡制药公司重新配制了奥施康定，使其更难滥用，许多已经上瘾的美国人因此转而使用海洛因，最终使用芬太尼。2019年，一个由经济学家组成的团队对奥施康定的影响进行了严格评估并得出结论：奥施康定的推出和销售“能够对20年来用药过量致死中的相当一部分进行解释”。

Purdue is now the subject of many lawsuits brought by state and city governments. Sifting through the reams of evidence unearthed by court proceedings, Mr Keefe shows how callous some of the remaining Sacklers have been over the destruction wrought around them—blaming the problem on immoral addicts rather than the drug, and regarding themselves as victims of a media witch-hunt. Shiftless third-generation types are rendered with evident loathing, skilfully skewered by their own words in court or by Mr Keefe’s (anonymous) sources. One aspiring fashionista wishes an obstreperous journalist would focus less on her last name and more on the hoodies she designs.

普渡制药现在仍面临多个州和市政府提起的诉讼。通过筛选法庭诉讼中发现的大量证据，基夫先生展示了剩下的一些萨克勒家族成员在面对自己对周围造成的破坏时是多么冷酷无情，他们将问题归咎于不道德的瘾君子而不是毒品本身，并将自己视为遭受媒体政治迫害的受害者。无能的第三代萨克勒家族成员呈现出明显的厌恶情绪，他们在法庭上巧妙地用自己的话或基夫先生（匿名）的消息来源歪曲事实。其中一位有抱负的时尚达人甚至希望专横的记者能少关注自己的姓，多关注自己设计的连帽衫。

The company pleaded guilty to assorted federal charges over its handling of OxyContin in November 2020. No Sacklers, and no executives, were obliged to acknowledge guilt personally, however, “as if the corporation had acted autonomously, like a driverless car”, Mr Keefe observes. Still, the Sackler name is mud. Museums and universities refuse their money. The Sackler wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which houses an ancient Egyptian temple, was targeted by protesters chanting “Temple of greed! Temple of Oxy!” Purdue is bankrupt (and may not pay the retirement benefits of its salespeople).

普渡制药公司在2020年11月承认了联邦政府对其处理奥施康定的各种指控。然而，基夫观察到，没有萨克勒家族成员和普渡高管是被迫亲自认罪，“就好像该公司是一辆无人驾驶汽车，都是自主的行动”。不过，萨克勒的名字已臭名昭著。博物馆和大学拒绝他们的赠款。有一座古埃及神庙珍藏在大都会艺术博物馆的萨克勒翼，抗议者们对着神庙高喊“贪婪神庙！奥施神庙！”普渡已经破产（可能不会支付其销售人员的退休福利）。

Yet ongoing legal efforts to claw back the fortunes extracted by the owners appear unlikely to succeed. The implosion of the empire of pain, it seems, comes with a golden parachute.

然而，目前正在进行的，追回普渡制药老板所榨取的财富的法律努力似乎不太可能成功。痛苦帝国的坍塌似乎还伴随着一个金色降落伞（规定员工如被解职即可获得大笔补偿金的聘约条款）。