VOA慢速英语--奥施康定制造商普渡制药申请破产保护

OxyContin Maker¹ Purdue Pharma Seeks Bankruptcy² Protection

Purdue Pharma, maker of the drug OxyContin, has sought bankruptcy protection in a American court.

Purdue’s board of directors met Sunday night to approve the expected bankruptcy request. The company is hoping to restructure itself in an effort to settle all the legal claims against it.

Local and state governments, as well as private individuals, have brought legal action against Purdue Pharma. They claim it aggressively marketed dangerous painkillers⁴ that helped fuel the opioid crisis in the United States.

Government studies have shown that nearly 400,000 people died from opioid use between 1999 and 2017.

Purdue’s lawyers reached a conditional⁵ deal to settle cases with 24 states, five U.S. territories and other plaintiffs. They include more than 2,000 cities and county governments.

Twenty-four states are either against the deal or unsure about the possible settlement. This may lead to an ugly legal battle over who is to blame for the opioid crisis.

Thousands of cities and nearly every state have taken legal action against Purdue and, in some cases, the Sackler family, which has a controlling interest in the company.

The cases claim the company and family lied to doctors and patients about the effects of the painkiller³. Millions of people became dependent on opioids, and many suffered or died from misuse⁶ of the drug.

Purdue and the Sacklers have denied the charges.

Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York are three states that oppose the conditional deal. They want the Sacklers to guarantee more of their own money to pay for a settlement. They also have questioned Purdue’s estimate that $10 billion is enough money to pay all the victims.

The Sacklers would give up control of Purdue if the settlement is completed, the company says. It also says the family has offered $3 billion in payments and an additional $1.5 billion or more through the sale of another company, called Mundipharma. The Sacklers have also said they will not change their offer in any way.

“There are only two ways to go from here,” said Purdue Chairman Steve Miller⁷.

He said Purdue plans to argue to opposing states that fighting the possible settlement will likely result in additional and more costly⁸ cases. Those will reduce the value of the company and, in the end, leave less money for the victims.

Miller spoke⁹ to the Reuters news agency.

In a statement, Sackler family members said they hoped those against the offer will change their minds.

A U.S. bankruptcy judge would have to consider a reorganization and settlement.

States and others are claiming the Sacklers earned billions of dollars from opioid sales while knowing they were dangerous and harmful. The Sacklers have denied the charges.

States opposed to the settlement offer have said they fight attempts by Purdue and the Sacklers to use bankruptcy to end all the legal actions against the company.

On Friday, New York Attorney General Letitia James said she discovered that the Sacklers had moved about $1 billion to other companies and to banks in Switzerland.

The information James found showed that Mortimer D.A. Sackler, a former board member, moved the money. Her office claims that he used false companies to move Purdue money around the world. She also said he hid money in at least two properties he bought in New York City.

A spokesman for Mortimer D. A. Sackler said all his actions were “perfectly legal.” He also said that the money was moved more than 20 years ago. He said the accusations¹⁰ were an attempt to get publicity¹¹ for the New York attorney general’s office.

I’m Caty Weaver¹².

Words in This Story

bankruptcy– n. a condition of financial failure

plaintiff– n. someone who brings a case against someone else in a court of law

opioid – n. a drug that is opium¹³ based and used to reduce pain

board of directors– n. a group of individuals who oversee a company

1 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。

2 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

3 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。

4 painkillers   

n.止痛药( painkiller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some painkillers to ease the pain. 医生给了他一些止疼片以减缓疼痛。 来自辞典例句
• The primary painkillers - opiates, like OxyContin - are widely feared, misunderstood and underused. 人们对主要的镇痛药——如鸦片剂奥施康定——存在广泛的恐惧、误解，因此没有充分利用。 来自时文部分

5 conditional   

adj.条件的，带有条件的

参考例句：

• My agreement is conditional on your help.你肯帮助我才同意。
• There are two forms of most-favored-nation treatment:conditional and unconditional.最惠国待遇有两种形式:有条件的和无条件的。

6 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

7 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

8 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

11 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

12 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

13 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。