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Published Sat, Jan 22, 2011 06:47 AM
Modified Sat, Jan 22, 2011 12:25 AM
Execution drug off market
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The sole U.S. manufacturer of a key lethal injection drug said Friday that it is ending production because of death-penalty opposition overseas - a move that could delay executions across the United States.
Over the past several months, a growing shortage of the drug, sodium thiopental, has forced some states to put executions on hold. And the problem is likely to get worse with the announcement from Hospira Inc. of Lake Forest, Ill.
Hospira said it decided in recent months to switch manufacturing from its North Carolina plant to a more modern Hospira factory in Liscate, Italy. But Italian authorities demanded a guarantee the drug would not be used to put inmates to death - an assurance the company said it was not willing to give.
"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," Hospira spokesman Dan Rosenberg said. "Exposing our employees or facilities to liability is not a risk we are prepared to take."
Italian Health Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment.
All but one of the 35 states that employ lethal injection use sodium thiopental. In nearly every case, they use it as part of a three-drug combination that sedates and paralyzes the inmate and stops the heart.
There are other, similar sedatives on the market, but substituting one drug for another would require new laws or lengthy administrative processes in some states, and could also lead to lawsuits from death row.
Similarly, switching to another manufacturer could invite lawsuits from inmates demanding proof that the drug will not cause pain in violation of their constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment. Hospira is the only sodium thiopental-maker approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Because of what Hospira described as problems with its raw-material suppliers, sodium thiopental is already scarce in the U.S.
Hospira has long deplored the drug's use in executions but said it regretted having to stop production, because sodium thiopental has legitimate medical purposes as an anesthetic used in hospitals. Hospira continues to make two other drugs used in executions - pancuronium bromide, which paralyzes, and potassium chloride, which stop the heart.
The current shortage of sodium thiopental in the U.S. has delayed or disrupted executions in Arizona, California, Kentucky, Ohio and Oklahoma.
Executions in North Carolina have been on hold for about three years. A push to stop doctors from assisting in executions, and a lawsuit filed by some death row inmates challenging the use of lethal injections as cruel and unusual punishment, have created a de facto moratorium.
Oklahoma switched to pentobarbital, an anesthetic commonly used to put cats and dogs to sleep. The state has conducted two executions with that drug.
Published Sat, Jan 22, 2011 06:47 AM
Modified Sat, Jan 22, 2011 12:25 AM
Execution drug off market
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The sole U.S. manufacturer of a key lethal injection drug said Friday that it is ending production because of death-penalty opposition overseas - a move that could delay executions across the United States.
Over the past several months, a growing shortage of the drug, sodium thiopental, has forced some states to put executions on hold. And the problem is likely to get worse with the announcement from Hospira Inc. of Lake Forest, Ill.
Hospira said it decided in recent months to switch manufacturing from its North Carolina plant to a more modern Hospira factory in Liscate, Italy. But Italian authorities demanded a guarantee the drug would not be used to put inmates to death - an assurance the company said it was not willing to give.
"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," Hospira spokesman Dan Rosenberg said. "Exposing our employees or facilities to liability is not a risk we are prepared to take."
Italian Health Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment.
All but one of the 35 states that employ lethal injection use sodium thiopental. In nearly every case, they use it as part of a three-drug combination that sedates and paralyzes the inmate and stops the heart.
There are other, similar sedatives on the market, but substituting one drug for another would require new laws or lengthy administrative processes in some states, and could also lead to lawsuits from death row.
Similarly, switching to another manufacturer could invite lawsuits from inmates demanding proof that the drug will not cause pain in violation of their constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment. Hospira is the only sodium thiopental-maker approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Because of what Hospira described as problems with its raw-material suppliers, sodium thiopental is already scarce in the U.S.
Hospira has long deplored the drug's use in executions but said it regretted having to stop production, because sodium thiopental has legitimate medical purposes as an anesthetic used in hospitals. Hospira continues to make two other drugs used in executions - pancuronium bromide, which paralyzes, and potassium chloride, which stop the heart.
The current shortage of sodium thiopental in the U.S. has delayed or disrupted executions in Arizona, California, Kentucky, Ohio and Oklahoma.
Executions in North Carolina have been on hold for about three years. A push to stop doctors from assisting in executions, and a lawsuit filed by some death row inmates challenging the use of lethal injections as cruel and unusual punishment, have created a de facto moratorium.
Oklahoma switched to pentobarbital, an anesthetic commonly used to put cats and dogs to sleep. The state has conducted two executions with that drug.
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