CELINHO – Inglês
celinho_ingles@hotmail.com
THE DARK SIDE OF HALCION
Should millions of Americans be popping a sleeping
pill banned in Britain for causing amnesia and depression?
When Halcion was first approved for sale in U.S. in
1982, doctors thought they had found the perfect sleeping
pill. Like its chemical cousins Librium and Valium, it was
safer than barbiturates. As an added bonus, Halcion did not
linger in the body the way most of its predecessors did, and
therefore it did not leave people groggy the next day. Within
a few years, the drug produced by Upjohn of Kalamazoo,
Michigan, became the most prescribed sleeping pill in the
world.
In 1990 American pharmacists filled more than 7
million orders. Satisfied customers include U.S. Secretary of
State James Baker, who finds Halcion handy on long plane
trips. "Time for a blue bomb," he sometimes announces
before naps, refering to the
color of a 0,25mg Halcion pill.
Like most drugs, however, Halcion has a dark side
after all. In the mid-1980s, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration began receiving more and more reports of
side effects from the drug – everything from amnesia to
agitation. The increase could be explained by the rising
number of people taking Halcion, but the drug got some bad
publicity when a Utah woman killed her mother while on
Halcion and sued the manufacturer. Upjohn settled the case
out of court, all the while denying that the drug was to
blame for the murder.
Now Halcion is facing its most serious challenge
yet. Last week the British Department of Health banned
sales of the drug in Britain, citing new evidence that the pill
"is associated with a much higher frequency of side effects,
particularly memory loss and depression," than similar
medications.
Time, October 14, 1991.
Dream Drug
Worldwide sales in millions of dollars
Potential benefits
Quick-acting, effective hypnotic, used as bedtime
sedative to induce sleep. Useful in short-term
management of insomnia.
Possible risks
Can be habit-forming with long-term use. May have adverce
behavioral effects: amnesia, depression, anxiety, confusion.
01. Transport from the text the following words and
expressions:
a. milhões de americanos
____________________________________________
b. causando amnésia e depressão
____________________________________________
c. aprovado
____________________________________________
d. predecessores
____________________________________________
e. farmacêuticos americanos
____________________________________________
f. droga
____________________________________________
g. agitação
____________________________________________
h. publicidade
____________________________________________
i. sério
____________________________________________
j. efeitos
____________________________________________
02. Find in the text and write the following information:
a. nomes de medicamentos
____________________________________________
b. nome de um laboratório farmacêutico
____________________________________________
c. nomes de países
____________________________________________
d. nomes de estados americanos
____________________________________________
e. nome de um secretário de Estado
____________________________________________
f. anos citados
____________________________________________
g. a fonte da qual foi tirado o texto
____________________________________________
03. Explain, in Portuguese, the meaning of the following
expressions in bold extracted from the text.
a. Should millions of Americans be popping a sleeping pill
banned in Britain...
____________________________________________
b. When Halcion was first approved for sale in U.S. in
1982...
____________________________________________
c. Like its chemical cousins Librium and Valium,...
____________________________________________
d. ... it was safer than barbiturates.
____________________________________________
e. Halcion did not linger in the body the way most of its
predecessors...
____________________________________________
f. ... satisfied customers include U.S. Secretary of State
James Baker,...
____________________________________________
g. ... who finds Halcion handy on long plane trips.
____________________________________________

h. ... the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began

receiving more and more reports...
____________________________________________

i. ... reports of side effects from the drug...

____________________________________________

j. The increase could be explained by the rising number....

____________________________________________

k. ... when a Utah woman killed her mother while on Halcion

and sued the manufacturer...
____________________________________________

l. ...that the drug was to blame for the murder...

____________________________________________

m. Halcion is facing its most serious challenge...

____________________________________________

n. ... ‘‘is associated with a much higher frequency of side

effects, particularly memory loss and depression’’...

04. According to the text, choose the correct option.

O Halcion:

a. deixa as pessoas tontas;

b. foi produzido pelo laboratório Upjohn,
localizado no estado de Utah;
c. foi liberado para venda em 1990;
d. é um medicamento para dormir;
e. foi receitado por mais de 7 milhões de farmacêuticos.

05. Choose the right answer.

Em relação aos efeitos colaterais, é correto afirmar:

a. o número de relatórios sobre o medicamento não

foi expressivo;
b. os efeitos colaterais apareceram no secretário
de Estado James Baker;
c. um dos efeitos é a amnésia;
d. o medicamento não produz efeitos colaterais;
e. os efeitos colaterais começaram a aparecer em
1980.