EnglishLady
Veteran Expediter
Telegraph Jan 23
Executions across the United States could be thrown into disarray after the only manufacturer of a drug used in most lethal injections announced it is ending production
A shortage of sodium thiopental has already forced some states to put executions on hold in recent months.
Now Hospira, the Illinois-based company that makes the drug, has said it will cease doing so completely because of opposition to the death penalty overseas. It is the only maker of sodium thiopental approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Hospira had been planning to switch production from its plant in North Carolina to a more modern facility in Liscate, Italy.
But Italian authorities demanded a guarantee that the drug would not be used to put inmates to death, an assurance the company said it was not willing to give.
A spokesman for Hospira said: "We cannot take the risk that we will be held liable by the Italian authorities if the product is diverted for use in capital punishment."
All but one of the 35 US states that employ lethal injection for executions use sodium thiopental. It is usually used as part of a three-drug combination.
There are other similar sedatives on the market but using them could lead to a legal quagmire.
The lethal injection process in many states was established following lengthy debate and changing it may require new laws or lengthy administrative processes.
Attempts to change it could lead to legal challenges from death row prisoners and groups opposed to the death penalty.
Hospira has long deplored the use of sodium thiopental in executions but produced it because it has medical uses as an anaesthetic in hospitals.
The existing shortage of the drug was caused by a problem the company had with sourcing raw materials.
Due to that shortage executions have already been delayed or disrupted in Arizona, California, Kentucky, Ohio and Oklahoma.
States including Arizona, Arkansas, California and Tennessee turned to sodium thiopental made in Britain.
But that supply dried up after the British government banned its export for use in executions in November.
Officials in California, which placed an order for 521 grams of the drug before the ban, said the batch was received. The state only needs 5 grams to carry out an execution.
Texas has four executions scheduled in coming months but only has enough sodium thiopental to carry out two.
Oklahoma has already carried out two executions using pentobarbital, an anaesthetic commonly used to put cats and dogs to sleep.
The German government has written to drug manufacturers there urging them not sell any sodium thiopental to the US.
Executions across the United States could be thrown into disarray after the only manufacturer of a drug used in most lethal injections announced it is ending production
A shortage of sodium thiopental has already forced some states to put executions on hold in recent months.
Now Hospira, the Illinois-based company that makes the drug, has said it will cease doing so completely because of opposition to the death penalty overseas. It is the only maker of sodium thiopental approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Hospira had been planning to switch production from its plant in North Carolina to a more modern facility in Liscate, Italy.
But Italian authorities demanded a guarantee that the drug would not be used to put inmates to death, an assurance the company said it was not willing to give.
A spokesman for Hospira said: "We cannot take the risk that we will be held liable by the Italian authorities if the product is diverted for use in capital punishment."
All but one of the 35 US states that employ lethal injection for executions use sodium thiopental. It is usually used as part of a three-drug combination.
There are other similar sedatives on the market but using them could lead to a legal quagmire.
The lethal injection process in many states was established following lengthy debate and changing it may require new laws or lengthy administrative processes.
Attempts to change it could lead to legal challenges from death row prisoners and groups opposed to the death penalty.
Hospira has long deplored the use of sodium thiopental in executions but produced it because it has medical uses as an anaesthetic in hospitals.
The existing shortage of the drug was caused by a problem the company had with sourcing raw materials.
Due to that shortage executions have already been delayed or disrupted in Arizona, California, Kentucky, Ohio and Oklahoma.
States including Arizona, Arkansas, California and Tennessee turned to sodium thiopental made in Britain.
But that supply dried up after the British government banned its export for use in executions in November.
Officials in California, which placed an order for 521 grams of the drug before the ban, said the batch was received. The state only needs 5 grams to carry out an execution.
Texas has four executions scheduled in coming months but only has enough sodium thiopental to carry out two.
Oklahoma has already carried out two executions using pentobarbital, an anaesthetic commonly used to put cats and dogs to sleep.
The German government has written to drug manufacturers there urging them not sell any sodium thiopental to the US.
