经济学人27:和解者 违规销售药物

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　　商业。

　　Mis-selling drugs.

　　违规销售药物。

　　The settlers.

　　和解者。

　　American prosecutors¹ wring² $3 billion from GlaxoSmithKline.

　　美国检察官提请对葛兰素史克公司处以30亿美元罚款。

　　PATRIOTIC³ pundits⁴ might make something of the timing⁵, just before America's Independence Day. As Americans prepared to celebrate the settlers who stuck it to the British in 1776, their government stuck it to a British drug firm. On July 2nd the Justice Department announced details of a $3 billion payment from GlaxoSmithKline, the old country's biggest pharmaceutical-maker. The deal, which resolves a pile of criminal and civil charges, is the largest health-fraud settlement in American history.

　　正当美国人准备为纪念1776年打退英国人的移民者庆祝时，他们的政府却在不依不饶地起诉一家英国制药公司。这件事正好发生在美国独立日到来之前，一些爱国评论人士可能就这点大做文章。7月2日，美国司法部门公布了有关葛兰素史克公司30亿美元巨额赔款的细节，该公司是英国这个老牌国家最大的制药业公司。这次判决解决了一系列刑事和民事指控，成为美国历史上最大的一起医药欺诈和解案。

　　The size of the deal is not new-it was announced in November-but the details are. Glaxo agreed to plead guilty to three criminal counts: the misbranding of two antidepressants and the failure to tell regulators about safety data for a diabetes⁶ drug. Those plea deals included $1 billion in payments. Glaxo also agreed to an additional $2 billion to settle civil charges under the False Claims Act.

　　这次和解的金额并非是什么新闻——在去年11月份就已向公众宣布——但具体如何分配这些金额却是刚刚公布。（早在去年11月份就已向公众公布的和解的金额并非是什么新闻，真正算得上是新闻的其实是如何具体来分配这些金额----Grace_Die的版本）葛兰素史克公司已就三项刑事指控认罪：滥用两种抗抑郁药的商标、未向监管部门提交一种糖尿病药物的安全数据。这些认罪协议包括10亿美元的赔偿金。在《反欺骗政府法》的规定下，葛兰素史克公司还将另外赔偿20亿美元用以解决民事指控。

　　Glaxo allegedly used spa treatments, trips to Hawaii and hunting excursions to coax⁷ doctors to write prescriptions⁸ for unapproved uses of certain drugs. In the case of Paxil, an antidepressant, Glaxo was said to have promoted a journal article that overstated the drug's benefits for children.

　　据称，葛兰素史克公司曾为一些医生的水疗服务、夏威夷旅游、狩猎等买单，借此让医生为某些药物未经批准的用途开具处方。据称该公司还极力推广一篇夸大了抗抑郁药帕罗西汀对儿童的药效的期刊论文。

　　In recent years, American prosecutors have accused nearly every big drug firm of nefarious⁹ sales tactics. Several have settled (see table), including Abbott Laboratories in May ($1.5 billion) and Pfizer in 2009 ($2.3 billion). To pursue these cases, the department has used an old but handy statute¹⁰. The False Claims Act was passed during the civil war, to stop contractors¹¹ from swindling the Union army. Congress gave it new life in 1986, promising¹² big payouts for citizens who blew the whistle on firms that defrauded¹³ the government.

　　近年来，几乎每一家大型制药公司都因非法销售策略遭到了美国检察官的控告。有些案件已经得到解决（见图表），包括5月份的雅培公司案件（赔偿15亿美元）和2009年的辉瑞公司案件（赔偿23亿美元）。在这些案件中，美国司法部搬出了一部古老却十分便利好用的法规——《反欺骗政府法》。此法规是在美国内战时为了阻止承包商欺诈美国联邦军而通过的。1986年，美国国会赋予这部法规新的生命：公民只要揭发检举公司的欺诈政府行为就能获得大笔奖励。

　　At first defence contractors were the main targets. More recently, drug firms have been a gold mine. Firms have been particularly vulnerable to charges of "off-label marketing¹⁴". America bars drug firms from promoting their pills for uses not approved by regulators. But doctors are free to prescribe drugs for such uses, which is why drug reps schmooze them.

　　起初，国防承包商是主要的被揭发目标。最近，制药公司又成了发财的金矿山。这些公司特别容易受到"将药物用在其还未被批准的用途上或其他年龄段的病人身上、违规使用药物剂量、违规以某种形式使用药物"等等这类控告。美国禁止制药公司推广不为药品监管机构所批准的药用功能，但医生可以自由地根据药物功能给病人开处方，这也就是为什么药品销售员要在医生面前阿谀奉承。

　　Are huge fines enough to curb¹⁵ dodgy drug peddling¹⁶? Glaxo insists that it has reformed. The firm says it has fired some of those involved in transgressions¹⁷, though it has not disclosed numbers or names. It has also changed internal incentives¹⁸ for drug salespeople¹⁹, to discourage mis-selling. As part of its "corporate²⁰ integrity agreement" with the Justice Department, it now may revoke²¹ an executive's bonus if he or a subordinate engages in shady deeds.

　　巨额罚款能有效阻止狡猾的制药商吗？葛兰素史克公司坚持称它已经采取了改革措施：公司辞退了涉及此次犯罪事件的职员，但并未公开辞退的员工人数及其姓名；公司还改变了内部的激励措施以阻止违规销售药品。根据该公司与司法部的"企业诚信协议"，如果一个经理或其下属参与不法行为，那么他的奖金将有可能被剥夺。

　　Patrick Burns of Taxpayers²² Against Fraud, an advocacy group, is not impressed. Individual executives pocket the benefits of malpractice, whereas stockholders pay the fines that result. So the way to deter²³ future wrongdoing would be to punish individual executives, he says. The fear of jail might make them think twice before overpromoting a pill.

　　来自纳税人免受欺诈倡导组织的帕特里克?伯恩斯认为此举并无成效。个别高管从不法行为中获取暴利，而赔偿金却要由股东来承担。因此，他说，想要预防此类违法行为再次发生就必须采取惩罚个别高管的方法。对其进行监禁的恫吓力可能会促使他们在夸大药物药效前三思而行。

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