经济学人商业 || 阿片类制药公司站上被告席

Pharmaceuticals

药物

Opioids Inc in the dock

阿片类制药公司站上被告席

注释：数词僻义dock: In a law court, the dock is where the person accused of a crime stands or sits. (法庭上的)被告席 栗子：What about the odd chance that you put an innocent man in the dock? 若是你真的把一个无辜的人送上被告席了呢？选自《柯林斯高阶英汉双解学习词典》

Companies accused of fuelling America’s opioid crisis face a legal reckoning

美国阿片类药物滥用危机，涉事公司面临指控

In 2015 Richard Sackler, from the billionaire family that controls Purdue Pharma, was deposed in a case related to his company’s alleged use—which it stoutly denies—of deceptive marketing to understate the addictive potential of OxyContin, its powerful opioid painkiller. The transcript of that testimony was unearthed this February, fuelling outrage over Purdue’s role in America’s growing opioid epidemic. On August 27th the video of Dr Sackler defending his firm’s flogging of OxyContin and other opioids finally emerged. This time, though, public fury was soothed by events of the previous day in Oklahoma. Judge Thad Balkman found Johnson & Johnson (J& J)  guilty of creating a “temporary public nuisance” by contributing to the opioid epidemic which has claimed the lives of some 6,000 Oklahomans since 2000. He ordered it to pay $572m towards a plan to abate the crisis.

2015年，普渡制药（Purdue Pharma）所有者、亿万富翁家族-萨克勒家族的成员理查德·萨克勒(Richard Sackler)被取证，原因是普渡制药旗下的强效阿片类止痛药奥施康定(OxyContin)被指控存在欺诈性营销，并对潜在的成瘾风险轻描淡写，而普渡制药却坚决否认这一指控。今年2月曝光的证词记录显示美国阿片类药物泛滥成灾，普渡制药扮演了推波助澜的角色，顿时民愤四起。8月27日，萨克勒博士为其公司欺诈性营销奥施康定及其他阿片类药物辩护的视频也浮出水面。不过这次公众情绪相对平静，因为就在视频曝光前一天，美国俄克拉何马州法官萨德·鲍克曼（Thad Balkman）裁定美国强生公司在阿片类药物成瘾危机中构成妨害公共利益罪，自2000年以来，该州大约6000人死于阿片类药物过量。法官判决强生公司支付5.72亿美元赔偿金，用以应对药物成瘾危机。

注释：

1. 萨克勒家族与止痛药成瘾衍生阅读——止痛药成瘾的争论由来已久

https://www.cnbeta.com/articles/tech/672185.htm

2. Richard Sackler received a bachelor's degree from Columbia University, followed by an MD degree from the New York University School of Medicine.[选自维基百科]（小编以为本文作者在这里提Dr.实在是有点讽刺意味）

Critics of the opioid-pushers cheered. As long ago as 2004, Purdue settled a case alleging inappropriate marketing of OxyContin with regulators in West Virginia for $10m, without admitting guilt. Since then, observes Elizabeth Burch of the University of Georgia Law School, nearly all such cases have been settled, with details of the litigation remaining under seal. The landmark trial in Oklahoma, which began in May, has already revealed the industry’s unsavoury practices. The prosecutors’ victory throws open the floodgates to strong legal action and potentially massive financial penalties. It could do to Opioids Inc what lawsuits over cigarettes did to Big Tobacco. And the pain may extend beyond drug makers to distributors and retailers involved in the opioid trade.

阿片类药物抗议人士奔走相告，欢呼雀跃。早在2004年，西弗吉尼亚州监管机构指控奥施康定不恰当营销，普渡制药就以1000万美元搞定了此案，也没有认罪。乔治亚大学法学院的伊丽莎白·伯奇（Elizabeth Burch）观察到，自那以后几乎所有类似案件都以和解收场，且诉讼细节并未公开。俄克拉何马州5月开始的这次审判具有“风向标”意义，揭露了该行业的丑陋行径。检方的此次胜利，为今后强有力的法律行动和巨额经济处罚打开了大门。大家认为此次诉讼对制药公司的影响堪比之前烟草行业的诉讼对五大烟草公司的影响。此外其影响还会波及所有与阿片类药物相关的经销商和零售商。

注释：

世界卫生组织关于阿片类药物过量问题的情况说明：

https://www.who.int/substance_abuse/information-sheet/zh/

主要的阿片类药物

Codeine 可待因（only available in generic form）

Fentanyl 芬太尼（Actiq, Duragesic, Fentora, Abstral, Onsolis）

Hydrocodone 氢可酮（Hysingla, Zohydro ER）

Hydrocodone/acetaminophen 氢可酮/对乙酰基酚（Lorcet, Lortab, Norco, Vicodin）

Hydromorphone 氢吗啡酮（Dilaudid, Exalgo）

Meperidine 哌替啶（Demerol）

Methadone 美沙酮（Dolophine, Methadose）

Morphine 吗啡（Kadian, MS Contin, Morphabond）

Oxycodone 羟考酮（OxyContin, Oxaydo）

Oxycodone and acetaminophen （Percocet, Roxicet）

Oxycodone and naloxone

Oklahoma’s attorney-general spent months locked in a fierce battle with J&Jin a state court over its responsibility for the local opioid crisis. Yet victory for the prosecutors seemed unlikely—which is why J&J punted >Teva, an Israeli generic-drug manufacturer, which paid out $270m and $85m, respectively. Some scholars were sceptical of the prosecution’s novel interpretation of what counts as a public nuisance, a misdeed typically associated with polluters or owners of brothels. Moreover, J&J accounted for only a tiny share of opioid sales in the state.

几个月以来，俄克拉荷马州总检察长在州法院与强生展开唇枪舌剑，辩论后者在当地阿片类药物危机中应承担的责任。然而公诉方获胜机会不大，这也是为何强生选择对簿公堂而非庭外和解的原因。此前，美国普渡制药和以色列特瓦（Teva）制药分别以2.7亿美元和8500万美元与俄克拉荷马州政府达成和解。不过，妨害公共利益罪通常涉及那些污染环境或组织卖淫嫖娼的行为，因而公诉方对此项罪名的新颖解释引发了一些学者的质疑。更何况强生的销量只占俄克拉荷马州阿片类药物销量很小的一部分。

Judge Balkman’s verdict therefore came as a surprise to many. It may discourage other companies accused of complicity in the crisis from taking a chance in the courtroom, predicts David Maris of Wells Fargo, a bank. The first test of this hypothesis will be a federal case in Ohio, which is due to go to trial in October. It brings together claims from around 2,000 local governments and Native-American tribes. They are gunning for manufacturers such as  J&J and Purdue, as well as lesser-known but much bigger opioid producers such as SpecGx and Actavis Pharma (see chart). But they are also going after big distributors and retailers, including upstanding household names like Walmart and Walgreens. All the companies deny wrongdoing.

因此，法官鲍克曼（Balkman）的裁决令人大跌眼镜。美国富国银行的大卫·马里斯（David Maris）推测，这可能会提醒其他被指控的公司不在法庭上冒险。今年十月，俄亥俄州联邦法院开庭审理的一项案件会首次检验这一推测正确与否。该案件涉及大约2000起来自当地政府和美国土著部落的指控。这些指控不仅瞄准诸如强生和普渡制药等制药公司，以及诸如SpecGx和阿特维斯制药（Actavis Pharma）等名气稍小但规模更大的阿片类药物制造商，还涉及那些大型经销商和零售商，包括一些看起来家喻户晓的正派公司，如沃尔玛公司（Walmart）和沃尔格林公司（Walgreens）。但是，更何况强生的销量在俄克拉荷马州阿片类药物销量中的占比微乎其微。

Mr Maris’s theory was bolstered a day after the Oklahoma verdict, when news reports surfaced of a dramatic deal in the works involving Purdue, the federal judge supervising the case in Ohio, and the plaintiffs in that case, as well as various state attorneys-general. The company appears willing to cough up between $10bn and $12bn, with $3bn or more coming from the Sackler family, as part of a bankruptcy transaction that would see the firm reconstituted as a public trust. If the reports are correct, the new trust would continue to produce both opioids and (perversely) drugs to counter their addictive effects. The Sacklers would lose control of their company; any future profits would go to the plaintiffs.

俄克拉何马州的判决公布一天后，马里斯先生的推测得到了佐证。当时有新闻报道披露，普渡制药与负责该案件的联邦法官、诸多原告,以及多个州的总检察长谈判，希望达成和解协议。普渡制药愿意掏出100亿至120亿美元，其中30多亿美元萨克勒家族承担，作为破产交易的一部分。该公司会宣布破产，并且重组为一家公共信托公司。如果这些报道属实，新成立的信托公司将继续生产阿片类药物及对抗其成瘾效果的药物。何其荒谬。萨克勒家族将放弃公司所有权；此后的一切盈利均归属一众原告。

注：

Cough sth up/cough up (informal) to give sth, especially money, unwillingly 勉强给（尤指钱） 栗子Steve finally coughed up the money he owed us. 史蒂夫最终勉强归还了他欠我们的钱。（选自《牛津词典》）

All this should alarm the peddlers of the pills. Analysts differ on just how worried they ought to be. Tom Claps, a legal expert at Susquehanna Financial Group, an investment firm, calculates that the industry faces a legal risk of perhaps $37bn from ongoing cases. Patrick Trucchio of Berenberg, a German investment bank, thinks that distributors alone could face legal liabilities of $40bn. Across the entire opioid supply chain, Mr Trucchio reckons, the bill could run to a whopping $150bn.

这一切都为此类药商敲响了警钟。分析人士对他们应担忧的程度看法不一。根据在审理的案件，投资公司萨斯奎哈纳金融集团(Susquehanna Financial Group)的法律专家汤姆•克拉斯(Tom Claps)估计，该行业面临的法律赔偿风险可能达370亿美元。德国投资银行贝伦贝格银行(Berenberg)的派崔克•特鲁奇奥(Patrick Trucchio)认为，仅分销商就可能面临400亿美元的法律责任赔偿。特鲁奇奥估计，整个阿片类药物供应链要付的罚款可能高达1500亿美元。

That is the worst-case scenario. For the time being, investors seem calm.  J&J’s share price ticked up on news of the award, a fraction of the $17bn the prosecutors had demanded. It could pay the $572m penalty nine times over from its latest quarterly net profit alone. Its high-powered lawyers, who groused that the state prosecutors’ legal theory was a “radical departure” from long-standing case law, vowed to appeal against the ruling, all the way up to the Supreme Court if necessary. Even if upheld, it may carry no weight beyond Oklahoma’s borders. Most states espouse a common-law understanding of public nuisance that is much narrower than the relevant statute in Oklahoma, notes Richard Ausness of the University of Kentucky Law School. There may be echoes of this argument in future legal cases, says Ms Burch. But nothing about the Oklahoma decision predetermines outcomes elsewhere.

当然，这是最糟糕的情况。目前，投资者似乎还比较平静。此前公诉方要求强生支付170亿美元罚金，最终判决的罚金却远远小于预期。消息一出，强生的股价应声上涨。仅其最近一次季报公布的净利润就足以支付5.72亿美元的罚款9次以上。强生公司的律师精英抱怨称，州检察官的法理“严重偏离”长期以来使用的判例法，发誓将就此提出上诉，而且如有必要会一直上诉到最高法院。即便最终维持原判，此案影响范围也仅在俄克拉荷马州内。肯塔基大学法学院的理查德·奥斯尼斯(Richard Ausness)表示，大多数州采纳的是判例法体系，它对妨害公共利益罪的定义要比俄克拉荷马州采纳的成文法体系狭窄。伯奇女士表示，将来的法律案件中也许会有人提出同样的质疑。但是，俄克拉荷马州的判决并不会对其他地方的判决产生决定性影响。

衍生阅读Common law & Statute：

https://www.jianshu.com/p/18b610a944eb

Other legal theories against drug makers and distributors have yet to be tested in court. After this week’s development, they may not get a chance. Andrew Pollis of Case Western Reserve University School of Law thinks the rest of the firms may fall in line behind Purdue. “Settlement feels impossible,” he says. “But trial is unthinkable.” 

其他一些反对制药企业和经销商的法律理论有待上庭验证。但本周事件发酵之后，这些理论基本上没戏了。凯斯西储大学法学院（Case Western Reserve University School of Law）的安德鲁·波利斯(Andrew Pollis)认为，其他公司可能会追随普渡制药的脚步。他说，"庭外和解令公司进退维谷，但对簿公堂更加难以承受。”

 翻译组： 

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