2014考研英語：閱讀理解基礎(chǔ)階段練習(xí)題(十八)_跨考網(wǎng)

　　2014考研英語：閱讀理解基礎(chǔ)階段練習(xí)題(十八)

　　Less than a year ago， a new generation of diet pills seemed to offer the long-sought answer to our chronic weight problems. Hundreds of thousands of pound-conscious Americans had discovered that a drug combination known as “fen-phen” could shut off voracious appetites like magic， and the FDA had just approved a new drug， Redux， that did the same with fewer side effects. Redux would attract hundreds of thousands of new pill poppers within a few months.

　　But now the diet-drug revolution is facing a backlash. Some of the nation“s largest HMOs， including Aetna U.S. Healthcare and Prudential Healthcare have begun cutting back or eliminating reimbursement (退款補(bǔ)償、報(bào)銷) for both pills. Diet chains like Jenny Craig and Nutri/System are backing away from them too. Several states， meanwhile， have restricted the use of fen-phen. Last week the Florida legislature banned new prescriptions entirely and called on doctors to wean (使斷絕) current patients from the drug within 30 days; it also put a 90-day limit on Redux prescriptions. Even New Jersey doctor Sheldon Levine， who touted Redux last year on TV and in his book The Redux Revolution， has stopped giving it to all but his most obese patients.

　　The reason for all the retrenchment (緊縮、刪節(jié))： potentially lethal side effect s. Over the summer， the FDA revealed that 82 patients had developed defects in t heir heart values while on fen-phen， and that seven patients had come down with the same condition on Redux.

　　As if that weren“t bad enough， physicians reported that a woman who had been taking fen-phen for less than a month died of primary pulmonary hypertension， a sometimes fatal lung condition already associated with Redux. And an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association last month confirmed earlier report s that both fen-phen and Redux can cause brain damage in lab animals.

　　These findings led the New England Journal to publish editorial admonishing doctors to prescribe the drugs only for patients with severe obesity. Meanwhile， FDA asked drug makers to put more explicit warnings on fen-phen and Redux labels. Since mid-July， prescriptions for fen-phen have dropped 56%， and those for Redux 36%， according to IMS America， a pharmaceutical market research firm. All that really does， however， is to bring the numbers down toswheresthey should have been all along. Manufacturers said from the start that their pills offered a short-term therapy for the obese， not for people looking to fitsintosa small e r bathing suit. FDA approved Redux with just such a caveat， and when limited to these patients， the drugs may still make sense-despite the risks-because mor bi d obesity carries its own dangers， including heart disease， diabetes and stroke. Too often， however， Redux and fen-phen were peddled to all comers， almost like candy. The current backlash， says Levine， is a “roller coaster that never should have happened.”