Italian Hospira Affiliate Guarantee on Pentothal

December 20, 2010: the Italian heads of American company Hospira have made themselves widely available to collaborate with Italian authorities, accepting that the production and sale of Pentothal will be exclusively authorised for medical purposes. They have committed to not selling the product to foreign jails and to inserting in contracts with distributors a clause that specifies that the product is not allowed for the practice of lethal injection, according to the resolution of the accord.

A note from the Foreign Affairs department outlined this, after a meeting today between the minister and the heads of the Italian affiliate of Hospira and the directors of the technical ministers involved.

Tomorrow, the note emphasised, the UN approves the third resolution on the moratorium on the death penalty and on the same day the Chamber will discuss a motion presented by Elisabetta Zamparutti on the possible exportation to the USA, by the Italian affiliate of multinational American Hospira, of Pentothal, an anesthetic used also in death penalty protocols using lethal injection.

Italy has always led the battle against the death penalty and has contributed to the determined way towards a consensus at the United Nations in favour of the moratorium, the note continued. In the specific case of Pentothal therefore, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini (who recently met the Secretary General of Hands Off Cain, Sergio D'Elia, Zamparutti and the Sant'Egidio Community spokesperson Mario Marazziti) quickly involved the Health and Economic Development ministers, to take a timely interest in the company and find a solution in line with the request of the motion and with the traditional Italian sensibility on themes of the death penalty.

Sources: Adnkronos, Hands Off Cain, December 20, 2010

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