VOA慢速英语2009年-Economics Report - Illegal Marketing of Dr

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

The world's largest drug company has agreed to pay almost two and a half billion dollars for illegal marketing¹ of medicines. The settlement between Pfizer and the United States Justice Department was announced last week.
　
Kathleen Sebelius and Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli announce the Pfizer settlement

The settlement is the nation's largest ever in a case of health care fraud. It also includes the largest criminal fine ever in any case in the United States, more than one billion dollars. Pfizer agreed to pay another billion for violations³ of a civil law, the False Claims Act. Pfizer, based in New York, had sales last year of forty-eight billion dollars.

A Pfizer division, Pharmacia & Upjohn, agreed to plead guilty to a criminal violation² over the painkiller⁴ Bextra. Pfizer pushed sales of Bextra for several uses unapproved by the government because of safety concerns. It also pushed for use in unapproved amounts. Pfizer withdrew Bextra from the market in two thousand five because of links to heart attacks and other problems.

Pfizer also faced civil charges over Bextra as well as an anti-psychotic drug, Geodon; an antibiotic⁵, Zyvox; and an anti-epilepsy drug, Lyrica. Officials said Pfizer paid health care providers to prescribe these medicines for conditions other than the ones for which they are approved. This is called "off-label" use of a drug.

Doctors are permitted to try off-label uses to treat their patients. The idea is that a doctor might find other ways that a drug is effective. But federal law bars drug companies from marketing their products for unapproved uses.

Kathleen Sebelius is the secretary of health and human services.

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS: "This settlement is historic not only because it's the most money taxpayers⁶ have ever recovered from a drug company, but also because it includes the most comprehensive corporate⁷ integrity agreement that a drug company has ever signed in the United States."

Under the agreement, doctors will have a way to report abuses by Pfizer sales representatives. And officials said Pfizer will have to make "detailed⁸ disclosures" on its Web site. Pfizer announced a plan in February to publicly disclose its financial relationships with doctors, medical organizations and patient groups.

Yet this is not the company's first corporate integrity agreement with the government. Pfizer has now been fined for illegal marketing four times since two thousand two.

Prescription⁹ drugs represent only about one-tenth of all health care spending in the United States. But fast-growing demand and prices have made them part of the debate over health reform.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Bob Doughty¹⁰.

1 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

2 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

3 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

4 painkiller   

n.止痛药

参考例句：

• I shall persuade him to take the painkiller.我将说服他把药吃下去。
• The painkiller only provides him a short respite from his pain.止痛药仅仅让他在疼痛中有短暂的疏解。

5 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。

6 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

7 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

8 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

9 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

10 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。