VOA慢速英语 2007 0626b

VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English.  I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein.  This week, we tell about America's Food and Drug Administration. 

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VOICE ONE:

The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the federal government.  The agency enforces the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic¹ Act and several other public health laws.

 
The pain medicine Vioxx was removed from the market in 2004 after a study showed it increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes. 
The F.D.A. is responsible for the safety of most food products and medicines.  It guarantees that medical devices and biological products are safe and effective.  It also guarantees the safety of beauty products and the country’s blood supply.

The F.D.A. supervises feed and drugs given to animals in the United States.  It also is responsible for labeling -- the information included with products.  All labels describing substances in a product must be truthful².

VOICE TWO:

The F.D.A. has about nine thousand employees.  They supervise the manufacture, import, transport, storage and sale of about one million million dollars worth of products each year.   This amount represents one-fourth of all money spent by Americans each year. 

The agency makes rules for almost ninety thousand businesses in the United States.  F.D.A. investigators³ inspect more than sixteen thousand manufacturing centers and farms each year.  The investigators make sure that products are made correctly and labeled truthfully.  Often, they will collect products for label inspections⁵ or testing by F.D.A. scientists. 

VOICE ONE:

The Food and Drug Administration has several choices if a company is found violating any of the laws the agency enforces.  F.D.A. officials can urge the company to correct the problem.  Or, they can legally remove, or recall, a bad product from the marketplace. 

In addition, F.D.A. investigators will seize products if they appear to fail requirements for public use.  About thirty thousand shipments of imported goods are seized at American ports every year. 

VOICE TWO:

The federal government has not always been responsible for the quality of food and medicines in the United States.  In the nineteenth century, individual states were generally responsible for the safety of locally-made food and drugs. 

Then, Americans began pressuring the federal government to protect resources and set safety rules.  The Bureau of Chemistry was made responsible for the food and drug supply.  The chief chemist at the Bureau was Harvey Wiley.  For more than twenty years, he called for a federal law to protect the public from unsafe foods. 

VOICE ONE:

Finally, in nineteen-oh-six, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Food and Drugs Act into law.  The measure became known as the Wiley Act.  It banned the transport and sale of unclean or falsely labeled foods, drinks and drugs.

In nineteen twenty-seven, the Bureau of Chemistry was made into two separate agencies.  One was the Food, Drug and Insecticide Administration.  Later, its name was changed to the Food and Drug Administration.  Today, the F.D.A. is part of the Department of Health and Human Services.

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VOICE TWO:

Since the Wiley Act, Congress has passed other laws to help the Food and Drug Administration carry out its work.  Yet, it has become harder for the F.D.A. to control medicines within the past few years.  One reason is off-label prescriptions⁶.  This is when doctors prescribe, or direct, patients to take medicines for unapproved uses.

For example, some patients have been given antibiotic⁷ drugs to treat viruses, or anti-depression medicines for pain.  It is not uncommon⁸ for a drug to effectively treat more than one health disorder⁹.  Yet, the F.D.A. usually approves drugs to treat only one disorder.

VOICE ONE:

A recent study investigated the use of off-label drugs in the United States.  The Archives for Internal Medicine reported on the investigation¹⁰.

Researchers studied information about the drugs most prescribed by American doctors in two thousand one.  They found that twenty-one percent of those prescriptions were meant to treat medical conditions for which the drugs lacked F.D.A. approval.  About three of every four of the prescriptions were for medical conditions for which there were little evidence of the drug’s safety or effectiveness.  

VOICE TWO:

Off-label prescriptions are legal.  Yet, they carry unknown risks.  Several thousand Americans are believed to become very sick every year after taking drugs for unapproved uses. 

Some officials blame drug manufacturers for the rise in off-label prescribing.  Sales people representing drug makers¹² give free supplies of their products to doctors.  The doctors then give them to patients without knowing all the effects the drugs will have. 

VOICE ONE:

The F.D.A. does not directly test drugs before approving them for public use.  Instead, it depends on drug manufacturers to prove the safety of their medicines.  The manufacturers often negotiate with medical schools or private groups to carry out tests.  Drug companies reportedly pay millions of dollars to researchers for their results. 

The companies argue that they own the information because they paid for the tests.  Yet, drug makers often are accused of only reporting findings that make their medicines look good.  That means the public may never know about tests that find a drug useless or even dangerous. 

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VOICE TWO: 

The drug industry gives the Food and Drug Administration millions of dollars every year to speed the approval of medicines.  Congress reached this agreement in the nineteen-nineties.  Yet, critics say this situation makes it difficult for the F.D.A. to effectively supervise drug companies. 

The F.D.A. has also faced trouble with some drugs it approved.  In two thousand four, drug maker¹¹ Merck announced a worldwide withdrawal¹³ of its pain medicine Vioxx.  Merck acted after a study showed that Vioxx increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes. 

VOICE ONE:

Recently, more questions have been raised about the drug approval process.  Researchers in the American state of Ohio reported last month that a drug commonly used to treat diabetes¹⁴ might increase the risk of heart attacks.  About seven million people worldwide use the drug, Avandia.  Its manufacturer is GlaxoSmithKline. 

The report led to a congressional investigation into why the F.D.A. had delayed warnings about Avandia.  Officials with the agency had suggested stronger safety warnings for the drug last year.  But only recently did the head of the F.D.A. call for stronger warnings for Avandia and a similar diabetes drug, Actos.  He also said the agency is examining conflicting studies of Avandia to fully⁴ establish its effects on patients.

VOICE TWO:

The Vioxx and Avandia incidents have intensified¹⁵ congressional concerns about the effectiveness of the F.D.A.  Last month, the Senate approved a bill that would expand the power of the agency to enforce drug safety.

The bill would give the F.D.A. power to control advertisements and restrict the use of medicines found to increase health risks.  The bill would also give the agency power to order changes in labeling.  Drug companies currently can delay changes on their labels for months. 

VOICE ONE:

The Senate bill would expand the F.D.A.’s ability to require manufacturers to study the safety of medicines after they have been approved.  It also would force them to publicly list drug tests and their results.  This kind of government-operated list would make it difficult for companies to hide evidence of safety problems. 

Parts of the Senate bill are supported in the House of Representatives.  Political observers say a drug safety bill is likely to become law later this year. 

VOICE TWO:

Some people believe the F.D.A. needs to improve its rules for food safety.  Millions of Americans become sick each year after eating unclean food or products containing harmful substances. 

Public health concerns increased earlier this year when food products from China sickened and killed some animals in the United States.  The products contained an industrial chemical, melamine.  Several members of Congress have proposed creation of a single agency responsible for food safety. 

VOICE ONE:

These are just some of the issues facing the Food and Drug Administration.  The agency is expected to deal with these and other concerns in the months to come.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Jill Moss¹⁶.  Brianna Blake was our producer.  I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Steve Ember.  Join us again at this time next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

1 cosmetic   

n.化妆品；adj.化妆用的；装门面的；装饰性的

参考例句：

• These changes are purely cosmetic.这些改变纯粹是装饰门面。
• Laughter is the best cosmetic,so grin and wear it!微笑是最好的化妆品，所以请尽情微笑吧！

2 truthful   

adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的

参考例句：

• You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
• I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。

3 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 antibiotic   

adj.抗菌的；n.抗生素

参考例句：

• The doctor said that I should take some antibiotic.医生说我应该服些用抗生素。
• Antibiotic can be used against infection.抗菌素可以用来防止感染。

8 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

9 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

10 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

11 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。

12 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 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。

14 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

15 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。