CDCR
For the second time in as many years, a drug commonly used in executions will become unavailable.
Word’s come out that pentobarbital, a barbituate several states use in lethal injections, will be much harder to find shortly, as the sole FDA-approved manufacturer of the drug is refusing to sell it to states that use it for executions. Pentobarbital, incidentally, became widely adopted just last year as a replacement for sodium thiopental, which was recently discontinued by its US maker.
CDCR
More and more states are shifting to a new execution drug, pentobarbital, in the wake of an international controversy that essentially resulted in the end of sodium thiopental production by the American company, Hospira. Hospira had always been uncomfortable with its product’s use in the lethal injection process–sodium thiopental, an anesthetic, is also used by hospitals and clinics. After a raw material shortage slowed sodium thiopental production by Hospira in the United States, many states, including California, looked for the drug abroad, and ended up importing it from distributors in the United Kingdom. (Georgia’s supply has since been seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration, which is investigating the transaction.) Hospira later announced that they’re leaving the sodium thiopental business altogether, in response to outrage in Europe over European-made drugs ending up in US executions. The announcement meant states started looking for alternatives–and now, a new execution drug has emerged.
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