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It was Arthur Sackler, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketing guru
幫助開創了電視購物廣告，開啟該家族企業王朝的
who helped pioneer the infomercial, who started the family business dynasty.
是阿瑟·薩克勒——一位精神科醫生兼醫藥營銷教父。
In 1952, he and his two younger brothers, Mortimer and Raymond (who were also psychiatrists and who have since died),
1952年，他和兩個弟弟莫蒂默和雷蒙德（兩人也是精神科醫生，目前均已過世），
bought a small company called Purdue Frederick.
買下了一家名為“普渡弗雷德里克”的小公司。
Their first products included laxatives and a prescription earwax remover,
他們初期銷售的產品包括瀉藥和一種處方耳垢清除劑，
as recounted in the book "Pain Killer" by Barry Meier, a former New York Times reporter.
正如《紐約時報》前記者巴里·邁耶在《止痛藥》一書中所寫的那樣。
The sprawling family today is hardly monolithic.
但我們很難說今天這個龐大的家庭依然還是一個整體。
Arthur’s branch has not been involved in Purdue for many years,
亞瑟負責的機構很多年都沒參與該公司的事務了，
and one of his children, Elizabeth A.Sackler, has called Purdue Pharma’s role in the opioid crisis "morally abhorrent."
他的一個女兒伊麗莎白·薩克勒還說，該公司在阿片類藥物危機中扮演的角色“在道義上令人不齒”。
But reporting published last year by ProPublica and The Atlantic suggested that
但ProPublica和《大西洋月刊》去年發表的報道顯示，
Arthur’s side of the family may have reaped some financial benefit from Purdue after OxyContin hit the market.
奧斯康定上市后，亞瑟的后人可能也分得了一些利潤。
The lawsuits brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts, Letitia James and Maura Healey,
紐約州和馬薩諸塞州檢察長萊蒂夏·詹姆斯和莫拉·希利在他們提出的訴訟中
named eight Sackler family members:
列出了八名薩克雷家族成員的名字：
Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt — children of either Mortimer or Raymond Sackler —
凱特、(小)莫蒂默、理查德、喬納森和艾琳·薩克勒——這些人要么是莫蒂默的孩子，要么是雷蒙德的孩子——
along with Theresa Sackler, the elder Mortimer’s widow;
以及老莫蒂默的遺孀特里薩·薩克勒;
Beverly Sackler, Raymond’s widow; and David Sackler, a grandson of Raymond.
雷蒙德的遺孀貝弗利·薩克勒以及雷蒙德的孫子大衛·薩克勒。
Purdue’s business was fundamentally changed after the F.D.A. approved OxyContin in 1995.
食品與藥品管理局1995年批準使用奧施康定之后，普渡制藥的業務便發生了根本性的轉變。
The company marketed the drug as a long-acting painkiller that was less addictive than shorter-acting rivals like Percocet and Vicodin,
該公司將該藥宣傳為一種比撲熱息痛或維柯丁之類的短效止痛藥成癮性更低的長效止痛藥，
a strategy aimed at reducing the stigma attached to opioids among doctors.
這一策略是為了緩解醫生們給阿片類藥物貼的污名。
The court filings detailed a multipronged approach used by the pharmaceutical industry at that time
法庭文件詳細描述了制藥行業當時
to reshape public perceptions about pain
為了重塑公眾對疼痛的看法，
and chip away at physicians’ reluctance to prescribe opioids, long known to be addictive,
消除醫生不愿開早就有會上癮這一名聲的阿片類藥物處方的疑慮，
by describing an "epidemic" of untreated pain affecting 100 million Americans.
而采取了多管齊下的辦法，聲稱一種疼痛“流行病”影響了上億美國人，這些人卻沒有得到治療。
Manufacturers funded "front groups" that were "disguised as ‘unbiased’ sources of cutting-edge medical research and information,"
制造商們還會資助“偽裝成前沿醫學研究及信息的‘公正’來源”的“前沿小組”，
according to the New York attorney general’s office,
紐約總檢察長辦公室透露，
ostensibly to educate the public about chronic pain and the benefits of opioids.
表面上是為了讓公眾了解慢性疼痛和阿片類藥物的好處。
Physicians were paid as consultants to further spread their message.
作為幫助他們進一步傳播信息的顧問，醫生也會拿到一定的報酬。
The companies claimed that opioids were safer than high doses of acetaminophen and other anti-inflammatory agents
這些公司聲稱阿片類藥物比大劑量的對乙酰氨基酚和其他消炎藥更安全，
and that there was a minuscule risk of addiction.
上癮的風險也很小。
At Purdue, sales representatives focused on doctors who were high-volume opioid prescribers,
普渡制藥的銷售代表會主要針對那些開大量阿片類藥物處方的醫生，
as well as inexperienced providers and primary care physicians who knew little about pain management,
以及缺乏經驗的供應商和對疼痛管理知之甚少的初級保健醫生，
encouraging them to prescribe higher and higher doses for longer stretches of time,
鼓勵他們給患者開出越來越高的劑量，并延長患者服用的時間。
according to the court filings.
法庭文件顯示。
Sales representatives could earn tens of thousands of dollars in bonuses and were rewarded with trips to tropical islands.
他們則可以獲得數萬美元的獎金，甚至還能獲得前往熱帶島嶼旅游的獎勵。
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
