US: Sedative maker deplores death penalty use

The sole U.S. manufacturer of a sedative Ohio plans to use to execute death row inmates -- and that Oklahoma already uses to do so -- said Wednesday it opposes the practice and has asked both states to stop using the drug.

Pentobarbital maker Lundbeck Inc. says it never intended for the drug to be used to put inmates to death.

"This goes against everything we're in business to do," Sally Benjamin Young, spokeswoman for the Denmark-based company's U.S. headquarters in Deerfield, Ill., told The Associated Press.

"We like to develop and make available therapies that improve people's lives," she said. "That's the focus of our business."

State prison officials in Ohio and Oklahoma said they hadn't seen copies of the letter Wednesday and could not comment.

Oklahoma has used the drug in combination with 2 others in 3 executions, while Ohio announced Tuesday it is switching to the sedative as the sole drug used to put inmates to death.

Ohio has not yet purchased its 1st supplies and Oklahoma has said it obtains its supply from a private pharmacy.

Source: Associated Press, January 28, 2011

Ohio at Death Penalty Crossroads

As the pace of executions has accelerated in Ohio (it was 2nd only to Texas is executions last year), the Buckeye State has been at the center of death penalty debates in the U.S. Since the miserably failed execution of Romell Broom (in which he was subjected to 2 hours of unsuccessful attempts to find a vein suitable for injecting the lethal drugs) Ohio has twice switched execution protocols -- 1st, moving to a 1 drug method (a massive dose of the anesthetic sodium thiopental), and now, as that drug's manufacturer has taken it off the market, a 1 drug dose of a different anesthetic, pentobarbital, which is commonly used to put down animals.

The 1st execution in Ohio to incorporate this new drug is scheduled for March 10.

Meanwhile, those who know Ohio's death penalty the best have begun to assert that Ohio should just abolish the death penalty. Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul E. Pfeifer, who as a state Senator was largely responsible for enacting Ohio's death penalty law, has called for an end to capital punishment in his state. And Terry Collins, a former warden who personally witnessed 33 executions, has also urged Ohioans to give up the death penalty.

On the question of capital punishment, Ohio is moving simultaneously in two different directions. Will Ohio ignore the voices of those most experienced with the death penalty and continue to execute prisoners at a record pace? Or will the people of Ohio heed those voices and move to shut down Ohio's incredibly dysfunctional death penalty once and for all?

Source: Amnesty International USA, January 28, 2011

Ohio Changes Lethal Injection Drug

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) announced today it will substitute Pentobarbital for Sodium Thiopental for the purposes of carrying out lethal injections in Ohio. The protocol change results from a national shortage of Sodium Thiopental and the manufacturer's announced discontinuation of production.

The new drug, Pentobarbital, is widely available and manufactured in the United States. The change in protocol was communicated to U.S. District Judge Frost before whom legal action is pending concerning Ohio's lethal injection procedure. Pending further legal developments, the new procedure will be used for the execution of Johnnie Baston in March.

The state of Oklahoma has used Pentobarbital in 3 executions. At a much lower dosage, Pentobarbital is used to induce coma in heart surgery patients.

This protocol will not impact the execution of Frank Spisak scheduled for February 17, 2011. However, it will be applied to all future executions. DRC will continue to exercise this responsibility in a professional, humane and dignified manner.

Source: FiercePharma.com, January 28, 2011
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