Lundbeck Urged to Do More to Stop Drug’s Use in U.S. Executions

Doctors who’ve prescribed medicines produced by H. Lundbeck A/S urged the Danish drugmaker to make more of an effort to stop the use of one of its treatments in executing U.S. prisoners facing the death penalty.

“We are appalled at the inaction of Lundbeck to prevent the supply of their drug, Nembutal,” doctors from the U.K., Saudi Arabia, Denmark, India and the U.S. said in the June 18 issue of Lancet. Nembutal, also known as pentobarbital, “is rapidly proving to be the drug of choice for U.S. executions,” 5 doctors, writing on behalf of another 58 physicians, wrote in the medical journal.

The drug, first approved in 1939, is used to treat seizures and euthanize animals. U.S. states, starting with Oklahoma in December, have begun administering the sedative to execute prisoners after facing a shortage of sodium thiopental. That drug’s manufacturer, Hospira Inc., stopped production after authorities in Italy, where manufacturing is located, asked for a guarantee it wouldn’t be used in executions. Italy doesn’t have the death penalty.

Writing in the Lancet, the doctors, led by David Nicholl, a U.K. neurologist, said Lundbeck should adopt measures similar to those it uses to control distribution of 2 other drugs, Sabril and Xenazine, for health reasons. Sabril is also used to treat seizures, while doctors prescribe Xenazine for patients with Huntington’s disease.

U.S. Prisons

Lundbeck, which has said it opposes the death penalty, sells 50 million doses of Nembutal a year in the U.S. It has hired advisers to draw up a plan by September to make it more difficult for U.S. prisons to buy Nembutal, the Copenhagen-based company said today.

Lundbeck may also take measures before September, spokesman Anders Schroll said. “There might be specific distribution controls that we could implement earlier,” he said by phone.

Lundbeck acquired Nembutal when it took over Deerfield, Illinois-based Ovation Pharmaceuticals Inc. in 2009.

Organizations opposing the death penalty, including Reprieve, have criticized the company for not doing more to stop the drug’s use in executions.

“If Lundbeck puts in tough controls, it would have very wide ramifications,” Maya Foa, an investigator with Reprieve, said by phone today.

Source: Bloomberg News, June 17, 2011

Related articles:

Lundbeck drugs set to kill three more prisoners within 48 hours as ...

Jun 15, 2011

"The death toll is increasing at an alarming rate for Lundbeck; the sooner they put in place controls on the distribution of the drug, the better. Rigorous and committed action on the part of the Danish pharmaceutical company may not be ...

http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com/

Death Penalty News: Lundbeck finally accepts it must act on ...

Jun 06, 2011

During the meeting, Lundbeck's CEO, Ulf Wiinberg, told Ms Foa that the company has reconsidered its position - which Reprieve has said from the beginning was untenable. Mr Wiinberg now acknowledges that there are steps...

http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com/

Death Penalty News: Pentobarbital sales on high, when will ...

Jun 07, 2011

Yet again, Lundbeck fails to bring concrete answers to pull out of the trade death soon enough as it has become a master at anesthetizing us all and at killing so many. The hiring of “external consultants to assess the ...

http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com/

Death Penalty News: Lundbeck refuses to ask US court to prevent ...

May 14, 2011

On behalf of capital defence lawyers in Alabama, legal action charity Reprieve had asked the company to submit an 'amicus curiae' brief to Alabama's Supreme Court, voicing opposition to the use of Lundbeck-produced ...

http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com/
_________________________

Use the tags below or the search engine at the top of this page to find updates, older or related articles on this Website.

Comments

Kansas AG urges governor to deny clemency to 8 sentenced to death

TOPEKA — Attorney General Kris Kobach on Tuesday urged the governor to deny clemency to Kansas inmates who have been sentenced to death. Eight of nine people sentenced to death in Kansas formally filed clemency requests in May, according to a press release from the Attorney General’s Office. Kobach urged Gov. Laura Kelly to reject them.

SCOTUS: Alabama can’t execute Jeffery Lee by nitrogen; Thursday execution called off

After a week of legal volleyball, Alabama death row inmate Jeffery Lee’s execution—scheduled for Thursday evening—was called off after federal courts called the state’s nitrogen gas execution method “likely unconstitutional.” The state took the fight to the U.S. Supreme Court, hoping Lee could still be put to death tonight. In an order issued at 8:10 p.m., the U.S. Supreme Court ordered that it would not lift a ban on Alabama executing Lee via nitrogen . In a short court order, the justices denied Alabama’s motion to go ahead with the execution. Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch would have granted the appeal and let the execution proceed, according to the order.

With nitrogen gas blocked, Alabama seeks to execute inmate by lethal injection

Jeffery Lee, who successfully challenged his scheduled Thursday execution by nitrogen gas, argued that execution by firing squad would be less painful. The Alabama Attorney General’s Office Friday sought to put an Alabama death row inmate to death by lethal injection a day after the U.S. Supreme Court rebuffed the state’s attempt to execute him by nitrogen gas. In a filing with the Alabama Supreme Court Friday afternoon, the state sought an expedited motion to set a new execution date for Jeffery Lee, 49. The state said that with a permanent injunction in place against nitrogen gas, the method by which the state intended to execute Lee on Thursday, it could execute him by lethal injection or the electric chair.

Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch wanted an execution that a Trump judge deemed illegal

The Supreme Court these days is generally in the business of helping executions go forward. But on Thursday night, the court did something notable: It told Alabama no. Even then, the court wasn't unanimous. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented from the refusal to let the nitrogen gas execution of Jeffery Lee proceed. What prompted the rare rejection? In line with the typical shadow docket practice, the court didn't explain itself. Nor did the dissenters, who merely noted their disagreement. But a deeper look at the case helps us understand why a majority of the court was unwilling to help the state this time.

Gov. Mike DeWine calls for Ohio to abolish the death penalty

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Gov. Mike DeWine Tuesday morning called on Ohio to abolish the death penalty, citing data that he said proves it is no longer a deterrent to violent crime. “For the state to take a human life, there must, in my opinion, there must be evidence that in doing so it will help protect the public, that the threat of that action will deter someone from committing murder,” DeWine said. “I do not believe that argument today can be successfully made.” DeWine cited data showing a decline in the last four decades of executions being carried out and an increase in the time inmates spend on death row.

Idaho will soon turn to firing squad executions. Police will pull the triggers

Trained members of Idaho law enforcement with demonstrated firearms proficiency are expected to fill slots for carrying out the death penalty by firing squad as the state prison system transitions to the controversial execution method next month. Six volunteers certified for no less than three years apiece through Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST, will be recruited to ensure the Idaho Department of Correction is ready to comply with a state law that prioritizes shooting prisoners to death over lethal injection starting July 1. No one on the team may have faced disciplinary action over firearms, use of force, or related conduct over the prior year, according to new execution protocols the prison system released this week.

20 Minutes to Death: Witness to the Last Execution in France

The following document is a firsthand account of the final moments of Hamida Djandoubi, a convicted murderer executed by guillotine at Marseille’s Baumettes Prison on September 10, 1977. The record—dated September 9—was written by Monique Mabelly, a judge appointed by the state to witness the proceedings. Djandoubi’s execution would ultimately be the last carried out in France before capital punishment was abolished in 1981. At the time, President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing—who had publicly voiced his "deep aversion to the death penalty" prior to his election—rejected Djandoubi’s appeal for clemency. Choosing to let "justice take its course," the President allowed the execution to proceed, just as he had in two previous cases during his term: Christian Ranucci , executed on July 28, 1976 and Jérôme Carrein , executed on June 23, 1977. Hamida Djandoubi , a Tunisian national, was sentenced to death for killing his former lover, Elisabeth Bousquet. He was execu...

New Mississippi billboard warns criminals: ‘Firing squad is legal’

DESOTO COUNTY, Miss. (WREG) — A billboard standing on Interstate 55 southbound as you cross the Tennessee state line and enter Mississippi from Memphis is sending a grim message to those coming into the state. DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton recently announced the new billboard campaign, which features the sign reading, “WELCOME TO MISSISSIPPI. WHERE THE FIRING SQUAD IS LEGAL. THINK TWICE.” It references Mississippi’s law permitting execution by firing squad under certain circumstances for inmates sentenced to death. Barton says this campaign is aimed at deterring violent crime and sends a direct message to criminals entering Mississippi.

I watched Ohio's last execution. Here's what it was like

As Gov. DeWine calls for Ohio to end capital punishment, the state’s last execution remains the one I witnessed in 2018 Inside Ohio's death house, there is a room for executions and separate witness rooms: one for those connected to the victim and another for those connected to the inmate. Windows separate the death chamber from those watching, the condemned from the living. I was there on July 18, 2018 – during Ohio’s most recent execution. Robert Van Hook was put to death that day for killing David Self in 1985. He sat on death row for three decades. I was one of three media witnesses to the execution.

Alabama | Judge bars nitrogen gas execution, says method is unconstitutionally cruel

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- A federal judge on Tuesday permanently blocked Alabama from executing an inmate with nitrogen gas after declaring it violates the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. U.S. District Judge Emily Marks issued the ruling hours after an appeals court reversed her initial finding that the method was constitutional. Marks permanently enjoined the state from executing Jeffrey Lee, 49, by nitrogen gas. He was scheduled to be executed Thursday. The decision, for now, blocks the use of the controversial new execution method that the state has championed since 2024, but the issue will likely end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog