2023考研英語閱讀輝瑞制藥有限公司

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2023考研英語閱讀輝瑞制藥有限公司

　　Pfizer

　　輝瑞制藥有限公司

　　Taking its medicine.

　　自嘗苦果。

　　A drug giant coughs up to settle bribery charges.

　　一個制藥巨頭被迫出錢就撤銷行賄指控與司法部達成和解。

　　IN AMERICA, it was once common for drug firms tooffer doctors perks to encourage them toprescribe their pills. Regulators now frown onsuch iffy sales techniques, and drug firms have more or less stopped using them. But inemerging markets, it is a different story, as a settlement on August 7th between America sDepartment of Justice and Pfizer, a big American drug firm, made clear.

　　在美國，制藥公司給醫生回扣鼓勵他們開處方時使用該公司生產的藥物曾是很常見的事?，F在相關管理部門開始禁止這樣不規范的銷售技巧，因此一些制藥公司也或多或少不再使用這種技巧。8 月7日，美國大型制藥公司輝瑞就海外賄賂行為與美國司法部達成了和解。此事正好表明新興市場的情況與美國的有所不同。

　　In China Pfizer established a club that provided high-prescribing doctors with all kinds ofentertainment under the guise of attending conferences. In Kazakhstan Pfizer awarded anexclusive distribution deal to a local firm after it was told there was no other way tosecure government approval for a Pfizer product.

　　輝瑞公司在中國成立了一個俱樂部，該俱樂部以開會的名義邀請那些開藥量較大的醫生參加各種娛樂活動。輝瑞公司還與哈薩克斯坦一家當地公司簽訂了獨家經銷協議，因為此前輝瑞得知，除此之外沒有其他的辦法可以獲得哈薩克斯坦政府對輝瑞制藥的批準。

　　Unfortunately for Pfizer, such acts violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act , anAmerican law that criminalises bribery abroad. Doctors in many of the countries in questionare state employees, making the gifts bribes to government officials. This week Pfizer agreedto pay a fine to settle corruption charges and to disgorge related illegally earned profitsto the Securities and Exchange Commission. The settlement, which will cost it $60m or so,covers similar offences committed by Wyeth, another drug firm, before it was acquired byPfizer in 2009.

　　不幸的是，輝瑞的這些行為違反了美國專門用來定罪海外行賄的《反海外腐敗法》。受到質疑的多國醫生都是國家機關的工作人員，于是這些禮物也就成了賄賂政府官員的贓物。本周，輝瑞公司為了了結腐敗指控同意支付罰款，并愿意向美國證券交易委員會上繳相關非法所得利潤。輝瑞公司進行此次和解將需要花費六千萬美元左右，這筆費用還包括了對惠氏公司賄賂行為的罰款。惠氏制藥公司于2009年被輝瑞公司收購，此前它也曾涉嫌海外賄賂。

　　Johnson Johnson, another big drugmaker, paid $70m last year to settle civil andcriminal bribery charges. On August 6th Teva, an Israeli firm that is the world s largestgeneric drugmaker, said it was co-operating with SEC investigators. Indeed, eight of theworld s ten biggest drug firms have warned of potential costs related to charges ofcorruption in markets abroad, according to Reuters. So Pfizer s behaviour seems to havebeen normal for the industry, not an aberration.

　　去年，另一家大型制藥公司強生因民事和刑事行賄受到指控，并為達成和解花費了七千萬美元。今年8月6日，世界上最大的學名藥生產公司以色列梯瓦制藥工業有限公司稱，它正在協助美國證券交易委員會調查員的調查工作。據路透社報道，事實上，世界上十大制藥公司中有八家公司都在警惕因受控海外貪污可能造成的潛在開支。所以這樣看來，輝瑞公司的行為在這個行業里并非異常。

　　Citing the settlement, regulators will crow that the FCPA is being enforced more vigorouslythan at any time since it became law in 1977. They will also hope that it is evidence thattheir new carrot-and-stick approach is starting to work. Most successful prosecutions in thepast have been the result of whistle-blowing or a lucky break; regulators have longsuspected that many companies have publicly supported the law while privately turning ablind eye to dodgy activities abroad, doubtless assuming that they would never be caught.The new approach is designed to encourage companies to police themselves, by punishingthem only lightly when they turn themselves in.

　　相關管理人員拿此次和解做文章，自鳴得意地稱這是自1977年《反海外腐敗法》頒布以來實施最有力的一次。同時，他們還希望此次事件能證明他們采取的軟硬兼施的措施已經開始生效。以往一些控訴成功的案件不是有人揭發就是運氣使然，監管者一直懷疑許多公司雖然在公開場合堅決擁護法律，但私底下卻對那些海外不法行為視而不見，還相信自己永遠不會被繩之以法。現在新的監管方法目的在于鼓勵那些公司進行自我監督，并對他們采取坦白從寬的政策。

　　The relatively small fine imposed on Pfizer was the Justice Department s way of showing thatfirms that co-operate will be treated leniently, says Ben Heineman of Harvard s KennedySchool of Government. Pfizer has gone out of its way to placate prosecutors: it has been co-operating on the case since 2004, helping to identify illegal practices throughout itsindustry. It also oversaw the process that uncovered the misbehaviour at Wyeth.

　　哈佛肯尼迪政治學院的Ben Heineman稱，此次美國司法部門對輝瑞公司罰款力度相對較輕就是為了表明會對那些協助調查的公司寬大處理。輝瑞公司早就開始煞費苦心地討好檢察官：從2004年起輝瑞就開始協助調查員調查此案，幫助其調查全行業的非法行為。輝瑞還監督了一項揭發惠氏不法行為的調查。

　　The regulators have accepted Pfizer s claim that the offences were committed by local staffacting without the knowledge of head office in America. This follows April s decision by theSEC to charge a senior executive at Morgan Stanley, a bank, with corrupt activity inShanghai, but not to impose legal penalties on the bank, which tipped off regulators aboutits rogue employee. A few more examples of such regulatory forbearance and perhapsbusiness will get the message.

　　輝瑞公司稱，這些不法行為都是當地一些員工在美國總公司不知情的情況下做出的，監管者也接受了這一說法。在此前的四月，美國證券交易委員會控告摩根史坦利投資銀行的一位高管在上海涉嫌貪污。但由于該銀行主動向監管者揭發了員工的不法行為，因此美國證券交易委員會并未對該銀行做出處罰?；蛟S這樣寬恕處理的例子再多一些，企業就能更好地領會監管者的意圖了。