Nebraska has bought new death penalty drugs

LINCOLN, Neb. —Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts says state officials have bought all three drugs required to carry out executions.

Ricketts and Department of Correctional Services Director Scott Frakes announced Thursday that the state now possesses one of the three drugs and will receive the other two in the near future.

The department bought two of the drugs, sodium thiopental and pancuronium bromide, from a company called HarrisPharma*.

Ricketts says three of Nebraska's 11 death-row inmates have exhausted all of their appeals.

The announcement comes one day before lawmakers are scheduled to debate a death penalty repeal measure.

The bill won first-round approval with a veto-proof majority in April, but two more votes are required.

Some opponents have argued that Nebraska should abolish capital punishment because the state hasn't executed anyone since 1997.

Source: The Associated Press, May 14, 2015

*Clarification from Harris Pharmaceutical: "Due to the similarity in company names, Harris Pharmaceutical, Inc. has been receiving a number of inquiries as to our participation in this drug sale. Harris Pharmaceutical, Inc. is a US-based pharmaceutical manufacturer of drugs for treatment of dermatological conditions. Harris Pharmaceutical, Inc. does not manufacture or distribute any of the drugs listed in the Associated Press article. You can find our complete product listing on our website www.harrispharmaceutical.com or via various FDA drug listing websites. We are in no way affiliated with the HarrisPharma, or its owner Chris Harris, that are cited in the recent articles regarding the State of Nebraska. As the articles state, that company is drug distributor based out of West Bengal, India. The similarity in company names is merely a coincidence."

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