B2 – Upper Intermediate
Certain states in the US that allow lethal injections are having a challenging time sourcing their substances for their execution.
Read the article below to know the reason behind Pfizer’s decision to stop selling specific narcotics used in lethal injections.
The American pharmaceutical conmpany Pfizer has said it will no longer sell drugs that can be used for lethal injections to the Amercian government. A total of 7 substances on the list are mostly used for operations and certain illnesses but are also in liquids used for executions. According to a Pfizer representative, the company’s aim is to save lives and not help kill people.
Pfizer says it will closely monitor buyers who try to resell the drugs to state institutions, which may use them for executions.
After Pfizer’s decision , there are no more companies in the USA and Europe that sell lethal injection drugs to the Amercian government . The European Union has banned the export of such drugs to the US.
As a result, state authorities are trying to find new drugs and combinations of substances that can be used for executions. Normally, three mixtures of drugs are used to execute a prisoner. The first one makes you unconscious , the second liquid paralyses the muscles and the third stops the heart from beating.
In the past few years, the number of executions has decreased, in part due to the availability of lethal drugs. Last year only 28 executions were carried out in the US. Among the 32 states that allow capital punishment, all of them use lethal injections as the main method of execution but some allow the electric chair,hanging, the firing squad and the gas chamber as alternatives.
Human rights organizations and other groups opposed to capital punishment have welcomed Pfizer’s decision as a bold move to ban the death penalty in the United States.
Discussion Questions:
- What do you think of Pfizer’s decision?
- Why did several drug companies refuse to sell these drugs to the US government?
- In your own opinion, is lethal injection humane? Explain your opinion.
- Is there death penalty in your country? If none, should there be one?
6 replies on “Pfizer Forbids Sales of Drugs For Lethal Injection”
Discussion Questions:
1. What do you think of Pfizer’s decision?
I think is the right decision if it’s the company’s aim is to save lives and not help kill people. I support them.
2. Why did several drug companies refuse to sell these drugs to the US government?
Not mentioned in the article, they talked about the Human Rights activist against the death penalty, also the European Union ban to sell this drug to the US for similar reasons, but nothing about pharmaceutical companies except the Pfizer´s decision explained in the article.
3. In your own opinion, is lethal injection humane? Explain your opinion.
I do think death penalty is inhumane, as well all the methods involve. I think that for the worse crimes and the worse criminals the real life prison sentence is ok, but if you sentence a man to die you became a criminal too (without to talk about the unfair trials, innocent people that sometimes was wrongly condemned, etc.)
4. Is there death penalty in your country? If none, should there be one?
Not now, we abolished the death penalty in 1995 (28 years ago), but the last men that were executed in Spain was in the 1975 (48 years ago).
I support the death penalty abolition, so I am happy with the current laws and I am proud to be part of the E.U. (European Union) because the EU banned the death penalty and all the states members must comply with this law…
You are doing great with your writing exercise. Interesting things you shared about the death penalty in your country.
See how you can write this sentence a little better:
Keep going!
1. I think that all companies have the possibility of using their code of conduct and in this case I think they are doing it well.
2. These companies are oppose to US practices, they are not comfortable with these actions.
3. It is a absolutely inhumane practice. The goverment must be an impolute institution and I believe that revenge is not the way to have an adult society.
4. Today the death penalty doesn´t exists in my country, years ago, before I was born it did exist. I think death penalty is childish way of dealing with big problems as society, we should try to reintroduce people after their mistakes (big o not so big)
It’s great that you stay consistent in practicing your writing skills.
Take a look at how this sentence can be improved:
Good job so far!
Hello,
it seems that the URL page is not valide and it’s not possible to access the article and prepare for the class.
Thank you! we have included the text in this same page.