Europe blocks export of execution drugs

The European Commission today announced that it is blocking the export of certain key lethal injection drugs which are widely used in US executions.

A number of anaesthetics, including substances currently used as the first stage in a three-drug lethal injection ‘cocktail’ by US states, have been placed on a list of controlled substances which could be used in capital punishment.

This is an important first step by the European Union in preventing the unethical use of medicines in executions, although it is still short of the catch-all provisions necessary to ensure that no European drugs of any type are used to kill prisoners. It comes in response to a long-running investigation by Reprieve into European complicity in executions by lethal injection.

A draft of the amended regulation seen by Reprieve states:

“It is […] necessary to supplement the list of goods subject to trade restrictions to prevent the use of certain medicinal products for capital punishment and to ensure that all Union exporters of medicinal products are subject to uniform conditions in this regard. The relevant medicinal products were developed for inter alia anaesthesia and sedation and their export should therefore not be made subject to a complete prohibition.”

The regulations ban a number of short- and intermediate- acting barbiturates, including sodium thiopental and pentobarbital, which are currently used across executing states in the US as the first stage of a three-drug lethal cocktail – or in some cases, as a large, single, lethal dose.

Reprieve’s Executive Director, Clare Algar said: “This is an important and positive first step in preventing the use of European drugs in executions. However, we need to see a broad, catch-all provision to prevent any drugs from being used in capital punishment in order to ensure Europe is never again complicit in the death penalty.

“This should also make it clear to European firms, wherever they operate, that to continue supplying drugs for use in executions will be a clear breach of the spirit of the law. Any pharmaceutical company wishing to preserve an ethical reputation must take steps to ensure their drugs are not used to kill prisoners.”

- The European Commission’s press release is available online.

- Further information on Reprieve’s investigation into European complicity in executions by lethal injection can be found on our website: www.reprieve.org.uk

Source: reprieve, December 20, 2011

EU puts squeeze on drug supplies for US executions

Brussels - The European Union on Tuesday strengthened export controls on drugs that can be used to administer the death penalty, putting a further squeeze on a supply shortage that has slowed executions in the United States.

The move means European firms producing drugs such as sodium thiopental, a sedative legally required for US lethal injections, would have to provide assurances their products would not be used for executions in order to export them.

“As of today, trade of certain anaesthetics, such as sodium thiopental, which can be used in lethal injections, to countries that have not yet abolished the death penalty, will be tightly controlled,” a statement from the European Commission said.

The death penalty is banned in the European Union and since 2008 the 27 member bloc has called for its abolition worldwide.

An EU official said firms in Britain, Italy, Germany, Austria and Denmark were the main manufacturers of sodium thiopental, which has been in short supply in the United States since the only US manufacturer stopped making it this year.

The drug is the first in a sequence of three administered in lethal injections to paralyse breathing and stop the heart. A sedative is required in all lethal injections of all US death row inmates.

The only US manufacturer of the drug, Hospira Inc said in January it would no longer make it in the United States as it did not want it used in executions, forcing states that allow the death penalty to look for other suppliers.

Hospira said it planned to shift production to its plant in Liscate, Italy, but the Italian parliament would only allow the drug to be made there if Hospira could guarantee that it would not be used in capital punishment.

Britain imposed an emergency export ban on sodium thiopental after the London-based human rights group Reprieve sued the British government last year to prevent the supply of drugs for use in executions.

In April, Britain also said it would ban the export to the United States of three more drugs used to carry out lethal injections - pancuronium bromide, potassium chloride and sodium pentobarbital - and called on other EU countries to follow suit.

An EU official said the EU move covers pentobarbital, which became a drug of choice for U.S. executions given the shortage of sodium pentobarbital, and “all short and intermediate-acting barbiturate anaesthetics”.

The US Death Penalty Information Center said the United States executed far fewer people in 2010 than in previous years, partly because of a shortage of sodium thiopental. It said executions were postponed or cancelled in five states due to the shortage.

In February, Swiss drugs company Novartis said it had taken steps to prevent a generic version of sodium thiopental reaching the United States as it was unable to guarantee it would not be used in executions.

However in June, Danish drugmaker Lundbeck said it would continue to sell Nembutal, known generically as pentobarbital, arguing that pulling its drug off the market would be bad for some patients who relied on it for the treatment of epilepsy.

In April, Indian firm Kayem Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd stopped supplying sodium thiopental for use in US executions as this went against the “ethos of Hinduism”.

Source: Reuters, December 20, 2011