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Illegal Marketing of Drugs: Pfizer's Record Fine

药物非法营销:辉瑞罚款创纪录

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 marketing of medicines. The settlement between Pfizer and the United States Justice Department was announced last week. 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 violations 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 violation over the painkiller 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 antibiotic, 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 taxpayers have ever recovered from a drug company, but also because it includes the most comprehensivecorporate 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 "detailed 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. Prescription 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 Doughty.

一、全文翻译

这里是VOA特别英语经济报道。

世界最大的药品公司同意因药物非法营销支付接近25亿美元罚款。美国司法部与辉瑞之间的判决方案于上周宣布。该判决是全国有史以来最大的医疗保健诈骗案。还包括了美国历史上所有案件中最高的罚款额，超过10亿美元。辉瑞还同意因违反民事法《虚假陈述法》而另外支付10亿美元。总部位于纽约的辉瑞公司去年的销售额为480亿美元。辉瑞公司分公司法玛西亚普强公司(Pharmacia & Upjohn Company)同意承认犯有对止痛药Bextra营销不当的罪行。辉瑞公司利用该药品几项功效来促销，而出于安全考虑，这几项功效并未通过政府批准。该公司还利用未通过政府批准的药物用量来促销。2005年，由于跟心脏病和其他问题有关，辉瑞将Bextra从市场上撤出。辉瑞还因Bextra以及抗精神病药物Geodon，抗生素Zyvox和抗癫痫病药物Lyrica而面临民事指控。相关官员称，辉瑞向医疗保健提供者行贿，要求他们将这些药物写入某些症状的药方，而这些症状并未通过联邦法律批准。这被称为“标签外药物”适用。

医生治疗病人时有权被允许使用标签外药物。这指的是医生可以通过其他方法发现某种药物有效。但是联邦法律禁止药品公司以未批准的用途来行销药物。

Kathleen Sebelius美国卫生及公共服务部部长。

Kathleen Sebelius：“这项判决是历史性的，不仅仅因为这是纳税人从医药公司拿到的最多的钱，还因为这包含了美国医药公司签署的最为综合的法人正直协议。” 根据该协议，医生可以获得报告辉瑞医药代表不当营销的途径。官员称，辉瑞必须必须在其网站上发布“详细披露”。二月份，辉瑞宣布计划公开披露该公司与医生，医疗机构和病人团体的关系。然而，这并不是该公司与政府之间的首份法人正直协议。自2002年开始，辉瑞已经因非法营销被罚款四次。处方药仅占美国医疗保健费用的十分之一。但是迅速增长的需求和价格使药物成为医疗体系改革辩论的一部分。

二、词汇学习

1.settlement                                              n. 殖民,定居,殖民地;解决,决定,调停;结算,偿付

例句：He mediated a settlement Between labor and management.
           他在劳资双方间通过调停达成和解。

2.violation                                                n. 违反,侵犯,妨碍

例句：This is a flagrant violation of human rights.
            这是对人权的公然侵犯。

3.plead                                                    vi. 辩护,恳求

例句：He pleaded illness as the reason for absence.
           他以生病作为缺席的理由。

4.withdraw                                              v.撤回,取回,撤消,使撤退,拉开,移开

例句：She withdrew her previous remarks, and apologized.
            她收回前言并道了歉。

5.prescribe                                            v.规定,命令,指示,嘱咐,开处方

例句：The doctor has put me on drugs,ie prescribed them for me.
            医生给我开了药。

6.permit                                                 v.允许,容许

例句：These stores do not permit sales of alcoholic beverages.
            这些商店不准出售含酒精饮料。

7.comprehensive                                adj. 广泛的,有理解力的,包容力大的

例句：The reporter has made a comprehensive report.
            记者已做了全面的报道。

8.corporate                                          n. 组织
a.公司的（法人）团体的

例句：Such programs are often mistaken for corporate paternalism.
            这种做法常常被误解为公司的温情主义。

9.disclosure                                       n. 发觉,败露,败露的事情

例句：The witness' unexpected disclosure was filled with drama.
            证人的出人意料的揭发充满了戏剧性。