Testing of Drugs

81 一年轻妇女死于药品试验

DATE=8-11-01
TITLE=IN THE NEWS #493 - Testing of Drugs
BYLINE=Nancy Steinbach

（Start at 1'05"）This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program IN THE NEWS.
Earlier this summer, a young woman in Baltimore, Maryland died as a result of taking part in a medical study.
The study was designed to learn how people with healthy lungs and people who have the breathing problem, (1)asthma, (2)react to (3)particles or substances².  The medical researchers at Johns Hopkins University had a number of healthy people breathe into their lungs a (4)drug called hexamethonium.  Twenty-four year old Ellen Roche was one of the nine people who agreed to take part in the study.  She died on June second as a result of (5)inhaling the drug.
In July, the federal³ government criticized⁴ the university's system that is (6)supposed to protect people involved in such studies.  An (7)investigation found that the researchers failed to consider information about the possible harmful effects of the drug on the lungs.  The people who took part in the study were never told that the drug is not (8)approved for human use.  And they were not warned⁶ about possible dangers.
Government officials decided⁷ to require stronger controls over the two-thousand other medical studies being done at Johns Hopkins.  Some of these studies are different from the one that included Mrs. Roche.  That study gave a drug to healthy people.  Other studies test a drug to see if it can effectively⁸ treat or (9)cure a disease⁹.  These studies are called (10)clinical (11)trials¹¹. 
 People involved in clinical trials are those who suffer the disease the drug is designed to treat.  The scientists divide them into two groups.  One group gets the drug being tested.  The second group gets an inactive substance¹.  Neither the scientists nor the people involved know who is getting what.  The researchers follow both groups to see what effect the drug has on the disease.
People who (12)volunteer to be part of a clinical trial¹⁰ usually do so because they want the new drug.  They hope it will improve their health.  Yet scientists say there is no way to make sure this will be the result.  The drug may help.  But it could make their condition worse.  Or the volunteers may be in the group that gets the inactive substance.
Medical researchers carry out such (13)experiments at universities and medical schools all over the world.  They say that such studies must be carefully controlled to make sure they are (14)generally safe.  And they warn⁵ people considering taking part in such studies to ask questions of the researchers about the possible dangers. 
Many researchers say they (15)believe that volunteers in clinical trials are protected as well as they can be.  Reports say that about sixty thousand clinical trials are carried out each year.  Only a small number have problems.  Most medical researchers say the risks of such tests are the only way to make progress against disease.
This VOA Special English program, IN THE NEWS, was written by Nancy Steinbach.  This is Steve Ember.

(1)  asthma [AWm[] n. [医]哮喘
(2)  react [ri'Akt] vi. 起反应, 起作用, 反抗, 起反作用
(3) particle [pa:tikl] n. 粒子, 点, 极小量, 微粒, 质点, 小品词, 语气
(4) drug [drQg] n. 药, 麻药, 麻醉药, 滞销货
(5) inhale [in'heil] vt. 吸入; vi. 吸气
(6) suppose [s['p[Jz] vt. 推想, 假设, 猜想; vi. 料想
(7) investigation [investi'geiF([)n] n. 调查, 研究
(8) approve [['pru:v] vi. 赞成, 满意; vt. 批准, 通过; v. 批准
(9) cure [kjJ[] v. 治愈, 治疗; n. 治愈, 痊愈
(10)  clinical  [klinikl] adj. 临床的, 病房用的
(11)  trial [trai[l] n. 试验, 考验, 审讯, 审判
(12) volunteer [vRl[n'ti[] n. 志愿者, 志愿兵; adj. 志愿的, 义务的, 无偿的; v. 自愿
(13)  experiment [ik'sperim[nt] n. 实验, 试验; vi. 进行实验, 做试验
(14)  generally [dVen[r[li] adv. 一般, 通常, 一般地
(15) believe [bi'li:v] v. 有坚定的宗教信仰的, 相信, 信任, 认为, 想

 

1 substance   

n.物质，实质，主旨

参考例句：

• There isn't anything of real substance in her book.她的书中没有任何真正实质性的内容。
• How long will the substance take to salt out?这种物质需要多长时间来盐析？

2 substances   

n.物质( substance的名词复数 )；实质；物体；[哲学]1)。 本质

参考例句：

• substances with high levels of toxicity 毒性大的物质
• Many highly corrosive substances are used in the nuclear industry. 核工业使用许多腐蚀性很强的物质。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 federal   

adj.联盟的；联邦的；(美国)联邦政府的

参考例句：

• Switzerland is a federal republic.瑞士是一个联邦共和国。
• The schools are screaming for federal aid.那些学校强烈要求联邦政府的援助。

4 criticized   

vt.批评(criticize的过去式)v.评论，批评( criticize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The decision was criticized by environmental groups. 这个决定受到了环保团体的批评。
• The movie has been criticized for apparently legitimizing violence. 这部电影因明显地美化暴力而受到了指责。

5 warn   

vt.警告，注意，远离；vi.提醒

参考例句：

• I must warn you that my patience is almost at an end.我必须警告你我已经没有耐心了。
• If you warn me in advance,I will have your order ready for you.你若预先通知我，我就能给您准备好了。

6 warned   

v.警告( warn的过去式和过去分词 )；提醒；告诫；预先通知

参考例句：

• Motorists have been warned to beware of icy roads. 已经提醒开车的人当心冰封的路面。
• I've warned her countless times. 我警告过她无数次了。

7 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。

8 effectively   

adv.有效地，有力地，实际上

参考例句：

• This method worked effectively.这方法很见效。
• The public should be educated to use resources more effectively.应该教育大众更有效地使用资源。

9 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

10 trial   

n.审判，试验，艰苦，麻烦事，考验；adj.尝试的，试验性的

参考例句：

• We shall put the machine to further trial.我们将进一步试验这部机器。
• He appeared as a witness in the trial.在审判中他出庭作证。

11 trials   

审判( trial的名词复数 )； （对能力、质量、性能等的）试验； 测试； 比赛

参考例句：

• The loss of relatives is among the most frequent trials in life. 失去亲人是人生最常遇到的痛事之一。
• They are doing clinical trials on a new drug. 他们正在做一种新药物的临床试验。