The news in today's New York Times that Hospira, Inc., the only FDA approved manufacturer of the lethal injection anesthetic sodium thiopental, has decided to stop making that drug has thrown the status of U.S. executions into further disarray. There has been a shortage of the drug for a year, delaying some executions and prompting states to take unusual and often highly secretive measures to find other suppliers. Now it is clear that the shortage will be permanent.
It is certainly NOT good news that the production of a drug with positive medical uses has been discontinued, but pharmaceuticals (and, for that matter, human beings) are not created to kill people, so using them for that purpose is bound to cause confusion, both moral and legal.
This ongoing saga, with states scrambling to find drugs for their executions, has only served to illustrate how degrading the whole death penalty enterprise is. All who participate in it, from the jurors, to the lawyers and judges, to the families of the victims and of the condemned, to the prison guards and wardens, to the medical professionals and drug companies like Hospira, are dragged into a system the sole purpose of which is to kill human beings, a purpose which goes against our most basic principles of human rights and human dignity.
In this case, Hospira has opted out, reiterating in its statement that capital punishment is "a use Hospira has never condoned" for their drug, and lamenting that "our many hospital customers who use the drug for its well-established medical benefits will not be able to obtain the product."
Source: Amnesty International USA blog, January 24, 2011
American Society of Anesthesiologists Statement on Sodium Thiopental's Removal from the Market
The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and its members are extremely troubled to learn that the anesthetic drug, sodium thiopental (Pentothal ®), will no longer be available to patients in the U.S. or any other country due to the unfortunate circumstances in Italy that led the sole manufacturer, Hospira, to cease production of the drug.
Sodium thiopental is an important and medically necessary anesthetic agent that has been used for years to induce anesthesia in patients undergoing surgical procedures. Although its use has decreased in recent years due to the introduction of newer medications, such as propofol, sodium thiopental is still considered a first-line anesthetic in many cases including those involving geriatric, neurologic, cardiovascular and obstetric patients, for whom the side effects of other medications could lead to serious complications.
The ASA certainly does not condone the use of sodium thiopental for capital punishment, but we also do not condone using the issue as the basis to place undue burdens on the distribution of this critical drug to the United States. It is an unfortunate irony that many more lives will be lost or put in jeopardy as a result of not having the drug available for its legitimate medical use.
ASA has been working diligently in recent years to address the increasing problem of drug shortages that jeopardize patient safety. In November, ASA co-sponsored a Drug Shortage Summit with our coalition partners in an attempt to develop solutions to address these ongoing issues. Today's announcement underscores the need to develop those solutions, such as redundancies within the manufacturing and distribution system, to ensure that our patients have the necessary drugs available when they are needed. ASA will continue its efforts to work with the federal government and its coalition partners to address this important patient safety issue.
THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANESTHESIOLOGISTS
Anesthesiologists: Physicians providing the lifeline of modern medicine. Founded in 1905, the American Society of Anesthesiologists is an educational, research and scientific association with 44,000 members organized to raise and maintain the standards of the medical practice of anesthesiology and improve the care of the patient.
For more information on the field of anesthesiology, visit the American Society of Anesthesiologists Web site at www.asahq.org
Source: American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), January 24, 2011
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