Right Drug, Wrong Patient

I. Unit Objectives

Be aware of the risks of pharmacy errors Understanding the long and difficult sentences Learning about hyperbole

II. Procedures

i. Fast reading

ii. Text

iii. Translation skills

iv. Exercise

Unlike traditional indemnity insurance, an HMO covers only care rendered by those doctors and other professionals who have agreed to treat patients in accordance with the HMO's guidelines and restrictions in exchange for a steady stream of customers. HMOs have been the target of lawsuits claiming that the restrictions of the HMO prevented necessary care. Whether an HMO can be held responsible for a physician's negligence partially depends on the HMO's screening process. If an HMO only contracts with providers meeting certain quality criteria and advertises this to its members, a court may be more likely to find that the HMO is responsible, just as hospitals can beliable for negligence in selecting physicians. However, an HMO isoften insulated from malpractice lawsuits

Pharmacy errors are very common nowadays and people need to protect themselves from these errors.

The author first begins with a case of pharmacy error to introduce a topic, then illustrates how serious the situation is with some statistics and points out why the situation is so serious.

The things needed to protect your family, and how to protect yourself.

Stucture Analysis ： Part 1 (1-8)

♥The reasons result in pharmacy errors

increasing workload

consumers' responsibility

♥An example of dispensing incorrectly draws out pharmacy errors

♥Some evidences shows the increasing rate of drug-dispensing mistakes

take the prescription tansactionfor granted

Stucture Analysis: Part 2 (9-33)

2.A White coat does not make a pharmacist

Since the pharmacies have made so many mistakes.So in order to protect our family. Here is what we need to know.

1.You can not rely solely on your doctor

3.You can get the right drug, but wrong does

4.The safety net has hole

5.Little watching oversight exists

Action!What should be done to prevent people from drug-dispensing mistakes?

GovernmentPharmacist

Watchdogconsumer

▪Make laws

▪Reduce related taxes

▪Strengthen

supervision

•medical ethics•regular exam•active learner

•learn more•maintain consumers'

right

The reason for the drug-dispensing mistakes ：

1.Understaffing & the new stress

2.spontaneity of marketing

overall prescription volume keeps rising

the third- party payers

Duty Actually

Doctor

give the correct prescription and treatmentsave patients' lives and cure their disease

ask patients to do something unnecessary physical examinationgive patients more drugs than they needwon't treat patients without money

Teacherdevelop personal quality

treat students equally distinguish treatment

Police slove problems for citizens properly

lack of ability blame others

Language points

These third party-payers are imposing ever-lower reimbursement rates on pharmacies, which must churn out a high volume of prescriptions to keep profit margins up.

这些第三方付款者使配药业得到的付还率持续走低，这必然造成为保持利润而大量配药。

Churn out—to produce in large quantities (usu. with the implication that quality is poor)

Other usages: ①The milkmaid shook the milk in churns

continuously and churned out butter in the end. （ =produce by shaking in churns ） ② In that capitalist country new labor laws were

introduced to enforce class collaboration so that profits could continue to churn out.

（ =come as a natural result)

Gallup Polls: A sampling by the American institute of Public Opinion or its British counterpart of the views of a representative cross section of population, used esp. as a means of forecasting voting.

盖洛普民意测验法

A white coat does not make a pharmacist.

穿白大褂的不一定是药剂师。

Increasingly, pharmacists say, pushing beyond that rate is not unusual.

药剂师们说，配药超过那个速度越来越常见。

Shut down--- to cease an operation or business Other usages: ①Please shut all the windows down before you leave

the room. （ =pull/push down a window, etc ） ②The fog shut down rapidly, and soon nothing could

be seen in the distance. （ =settle over so as to envelop or obscure vision

Turn down--- to refuse an offer Other usages: ①The collar of his overcoat can turn down. （ =be capable of being folded down ） ②Would you please turn the radio down? I am writing my

thesis. （ =lower in intensity by turning a switch ） ③We hurriedly turned down on a path that I thought would

take us back---and found ourselves in the People’s Park. （ =go round a corner and enter, 拐入，转入）

call in—(in the text) to make an order/request by telephone( 电话预约 )

Other usages: ①I waited for only two minutes before I was called in. （ =ask to come or go in ） ②An electrician was called in to see to the electric generator. （ =invite/summon ） ③The library is calling in all books that are overdue. （ =order/request the return of sth. 要求归还） ④May I call in this evening? （ =call at sb’s house ）

IV. Translation skills

夸张是人们从主观出发，有意识地把事实夸大，以达到强调或突出重点的一种修辞手法，所以它往往多重在主观情感的抒发，不重在客观事实的记录。无论是汉语中还是英语中，夸张都是故意渲染以唤起注意，主要作用在于增强生动性和感染力。

例：We were tired to death on reaching the peak.

我们爬到山顶后，简直要累死了。

I would give the world to see you.

我十分想见你。

It’s a crime to stay inside on such a beautiful day.

今天阳光明媚，躲在家中，实在是罪过。

英语中用数字表示次数时并不一定就表示确定的次数。在很多情况下，它只是对一种频率的表达，或者说采用夸张的修辞手法来表示很多，它并不指具体。因此在翻译过程当中，不要过分拘泥于原文，而应该灵活变通，以达到交际目的。

Mary’s two daughters are different in their personalities in a thousand and one ways.

玛丽的两个女儿在性格上有天壤之别。

I have told you forty times that if you touched that jam I’d skin you.

你要是偷吃果酱，我就剥你的皮。我跟你讲过不下一百遍了。

Assignments

Read news reports and essays on pharmacy errors extensively off class and prepare for the discussion:

What could be done to prevent more such errors?

Translate the long and difficult sentences marked on class.