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Business.
商業。
Mis-selling drugs.
違規銷售藥物。
The settlers.
和解者。
American prosecutors wring $3 billion from GlaxoSmithKline.
美國檢察官提請對葛蘭素史克公司處以30億美元罰款。
PATRIOTIC pundits might make something of the timing, 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.
正當美國人準備為紀念1776年打退英國人的移民者慶祝時，他們的政府卻在不依不饒地起訴一家英國制藥公司。這件事正好發生在美國獨立日到來之前，一些愛國評論人士可能就這點大做文章。7月2日，美國司法部門公布了有關葛蘭素史克公司30億美元巨額賠款的細節，該公司是英國這個老牌國家最大的制藥業公司。這次判決解決了一系列刑事和民事指控，成為美國歷史上最大的一起醫藥欺詐和解案。
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 diabetes 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.
這次和解的金額并非是什么新聞——在去年11月份就已向公眾宣布——但具體如何分配這些金額卻是剛剛公布。（早在去年11月份就已向公眾公布的和解的金額并非是什么新聞，真正算得上是新聞的其實是如何具體來分配這些金額----Grace_Die的版本）葛蘭素史克公司已就三項刑事指控認罪：濫用兩種抗抑郁藥的商標、未向監管部門提交一種糖尿病藥物的安全數據。這些認罪協議包括10億美元的賠償金。在《反欺騙政府法》的規定下，葛蘭素史克公司還將另外賠償20億美元用以解決民事指控。
Glaxo allegedly used spa treatments, trips to Hawaii and hunting excursions to coax doctors to write prescriptions 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.
據稱，葛蘭素史克公司曾為一些醫生的水療服務、夏威夷旅游、狩獵等買單，借此讓醫生為某些藥物未經批準的用途開具處方。據稱該公司還極力推廣一篇夸大了抗抑郁藥帕羅西汀對兒童的藥效的期刊論文。
In recent years, American prosecutors have accused nearly every big drug firm of nefarious 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 statute. The False Claims Act was passed during the civil war, to stop contractors from swindling the Union army. Congress gave it new life in 1986, promising big payouts for citizens who blew the whistle on firms that defrauded the government.
近年來，幾乎每一家大型制藥公司都因非法銷售策略遭到了美國檢察官的控告。有些案件已經得到解決（見圖表），包括5月份的雅培公司案件（賠償15億美元）和2009年的輝瑞公司案件（賠償23億美元）。在這些案件中，美國司法部搬出了一部古老卻十分便利好用的法規——《反欺騙政府法》。此法規是在美國內戰時為了阻止承包商欺詐美國聯邦軍而通過的。1986年，美國國會賦予這部法規新的生命：公民只要揭發檢舉公司的欺詐政府行為就能獲得大筆獎勵。
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 marketing". 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，國防承包商是主要的被揭發目標。最近，制藥公司又成了發財的金礦山。這些公司特別容易受到"將藥物用在其還未被批準的用途上或其他年齡段的病人身上、違規使用藥物劑量、違規以某種形式使用藥物"等等這類控告。美國禁止制藥公司推廣不為藥品監管機構所批準的藥用功能，但醫生可以自由地根據藥物功能給病人開處方，這也就是為什么藥品銷售員要在醫生面前阿諛奉承。
Are huge fines enough to curb dodgy drug peddling? Glaxo insists that it has reformed. The firm says it has fired some of those involved in transgressions, though it has not disclosed numbers or names. It has also changed internal incentives for drug salespeople, to discourage mis-selling. As part of its "corporate integrity agreement" with the Justice Department, it now may revoke an executive's bonus if he or a subordinate engages in shady deeds.
巨額罰款能有效阻止狡猾的制藥商嗎？葛蘭素史克公司堅持稱它已經采取了改革措施：公司辭退了涉及此次犯罪事件的職員，但并未公開辭退的員工人數及其姓名；公司還改變了內部的激勵措施以阻止違規銷售藥品。根據該公司與司法部的"企業誠信協議"，如果一個經理或其下屬參與不法行為，那么他的獎金將有可能被剝奪。
Patrick Burns of Taxpayers 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 deter future wrongdoing would be to punish individual executives, he says. The fear of jail might make them think twice before overpromoting a pill.
來自納稅人免受欺詐倡導組織的帕特里克?伯恩斯認為此舉并無成效。個別高管從不法行為中獲取暴利，而賠償金卻要由股東來承擔。因此，他說，想要預防此類違法行為再次發生就必須采取懲罰個別高管的方法。對其進行監禁的恫嚇力可能會促使他們在夸大藥物藥效前三思而行。
