Lack of lethal-injection drug means Florida must develop new execution procedure

[trumad]

God we live in a sick fucking country!

Executions of Florida death-row inmates could be on hold for months in the wake of a decision last week by an Illinois drug company to stop producing an anesthetic used in lethal injections here.

Though no new executions are scheduled, the halt in production of the drug effectively means that the state will have to come up with a new procedure to kill inmates. And any new drug "cocktail" developed likely will result in legal challenges down the line.

The drug in question is sodium thiopental, one of three used by Florida and many other states in the lethal-injection sequence. It is an anesthetic administered prior to a muscle relaxant and a third drug that stops the heart.

Currently, 35 states plus the federal government use lethal injection as the primary method of execution, according to the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center. Most use the same three-drug method.

On Friday, Lake Forest, Ill.-based Hospira Inc. announced in a statement that it "will exit the sodium thiopental market and no longer attempt to resume production of its product, Pentothal."

That company was the sole American producer of the drug.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-no-death-penalty-drug-florida-20110125,0,5069336.story

[my2sense]

1. sad reality of our society

"state will have to come up with a new procedure to kill inmates" - I imagine the repubs will try and expedite this effort.

[LeftishBrit]

2. Another possibility, of course, would be to give up the barbaric custom of the death penalty.

[customerserviceguy]

3. Why not just substitute propofol?

That's what's replaced sodium thiopental in clinical uses. Why would it be inappropriate for this situation?