Lethal Injection Drug Shortage
Texas seeks alternatives to proceed with executions
SUZETTE ORTIZ
THE SIGNAL
A notable shortage on two of the most common drugs used in lethal injections, sodium thiopental and pentobarbital, affected multiple states that uphold the death penalty, including Texas.
This shortage forced states to seek alternative drug sources in order to proceed with their scheduled executions.
The shortage began when Hospira, the sole United States manufacturer of sodium thiopental, announced they would end production of the drug.
Hospira, while being based in the U.S., was manufacturing the drug in Italy, where officials mandated the drug no longer be used in executions.
“Texas initially used sodium thiopental as part of a 3-drug lethal injection procedure,” states the Death Penalty Information Center on its website. “However, on July 18, 2013, they switched to a one-drug procedure, using only pentobarbital.”
Although multiple states, including Texas, turned to pentobarbital as an alternative drug, this drug also experienced a widespread limited supply.
“Lundbeck, Inc., [the] producer of pentobarbital, publicly stated their opposition to the off-label use of their product, [and] then put restrictions in place to prevent Departments of Corrections from obtaining the drug for use in executions,” said Elaine de Leon, communications coordinator for the Death Penalty Information Center. “[Likewise] Hikma, another company that produces pentobarbital, put similar measures in place.”
Texas’ last supply of pentobarbital expired in September.
The expired drug supply cannot be used, even though its purpose is one of a lethal drug, because there is no way of telling how a human body will react to the out-of-date drug when it is put to use.
If the drug were to fail in its purpose, inflicting damage instead of a humane death to the person to whom it is being administered, it would bring legal consequences for the state using the expired drug.
In an effort to stay on schedule, Texas officials sought a new supply of pentobarbital.
“Texas leads the country with 506 executions since 1976, and with 14 executions so far in 2013,” de Leon said. “Texas recently announced that it will [now] obtain [the] drugs from compounding pharmacies.”
Compounding pharmacies are used to custom-make small amounts of drugs. They are usually hired to create something in response to a prescription for a slightly altered form of a medicine.
An example of the kind of medication a compounding pharmacy might produce is a liquid form of a medication that would originally be in a pill form, so that a child would be able to swallow it.
These pharmacies are also able to remove an inactive ingredient for patients who have an allergy to that ingredient.
Although compounding pharmacies can be helpful in making alternative forms of a medicine, they are not subject to federal scrutiny.
“[Compound drugs] are not held to the same regulatory standards as pharmaceutical manufacturers, so there are some concerns about the safety and efficacy of their products,” de Leon said.
The Texas agency has already purchased a new supply of pentobarbital from one of these compound pharmacies in suburban Houston.
“We currently have 275 inmates on death row,” said Jason Clark, public information director for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Huntsville, Texas. “The purchase will allow the agency to carry out all currently schedule executions.”
Texas released a statement verifying the purchase of pentobarbital through a compounding pharmacy after three death-row inmates who do not agree with the use of this new drug filed a federal lawsuit in Houston. They are accusing Texas of using untested drugs and claim that this violates the U.S. Constitution’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment.
“The inmates filed a civil suit and a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit this past Saturday,” Clark said.
One of the inmates who filed a lawsuit was Michael Yowell, who was executed Oct. 9. Yowell was the first to be executed with the new supply of pentobarbital.
