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> The drug Nebraska purchased, sodium thiopental, is an out-of-date anesthetic that stopped being used in executions after the sole FDA-approved manufacturer qu
by scintill76 11y ago
> The drug Nebraska purchased, sodium thiopental, is an out-of-date anesthetic that stopped being used in executions after the sole FDA-approved manufacturer quit making it to keep it away from death penalty states.
In the recent climate of stories like pharmas price-gouging, it's nice to hear they aren't always greedy. (Edit: They were somewhat coerced by Italy, where they produce it[2]. I think EU export law forbids it now too. Still, they could probably produce it in the US at a worthwhile premium if they wanted to, but it appears they don't.)
> Other death penalty states have turned to different drugs, but Nebraska had few options because the state’s protocol calls for sodium thiopental.
I don't know how that came about, but it makes me wonder if this would be an effective way to weaken a law you don't like: compromise on a legal implementation that depends on something that won't last forever. I guess it's not unique, though; it's like how the debt ceiling is only bumped up a bit, or PATRIOT Act provisions extended a couple of years at a time.
> Changing it to a more modern execution drug would have required public meetings, and that would take time that Ricketts and his DOC did not have.
It sounds like Gov. Ricketts' ego and legacy rest on maintaining the death penalty in his state. The Atlantic[0] covered how the state legislature abolished it, and the multiple ways the government sought to twist law to do it anyway. The governor and his father personally financed $300k on a petition drive to suspend the new law[1]. Must be nice to have so much money and nothing better to do than try to obtain the right to legally kill strangers.
[0] http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/a-governor-threatens-to-execute-prisoners-out-of-spite/394949/ http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/a-govern...
[1] http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/10/19/nebraska_death_penalty_petition_suspends_new_law_triggers_november_2016.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/10/19/nebraska_d...
[2] http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=175550&p=irol-newsArticle_print&ID=1518610 http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=175550&p=irol-ne...
- frozenport 11y agoThe market for lethal drugs perhaps outweighs the regulatory costs.
- scintill76 11y agoYeah, I wonder if somebody is working to obtain a new FDA license to sell at an even higher markup than the guy in the article. Nebraska's governor and his father already spent all that money to make it legal, maybe they'll give more to also buy the drugs or even finance the licensing.
- knorby 11y agoWhat's sad about that is that there are plenty of lethal drugs that are perfectly legal and normally regulated, but they aren't part of the must-cause-pain execution method used. Terminally ill patients seeking medically assisted suicide take a lethal dose of a sleeping aide, which is pleasant.
- scintill76 11y ago> the must-cause-pain execution method On the contrary: "cruel and unusual punishment" is Constitutionally prohibited in the US. Execution itself hasn't been ruled out by this, but it is not allowed to cause extreme pain. The dependence on certain drugs seems to be because of "conservatively" designing the execution protocol to a) consistently cause quick death, and b) not be painful, for instance by causing unconsciousness. There is evidence that some convicts were conscious. On the other hand, I skimmed some euthanasia protocols[0], and to a layman at least, they appear similar to the ones for execution in the US, so I'm not sure you're correct about it being pleasant for the euthanasia patients. Perhaps the euthanasia one I read is outdated and they have better ones. I think we're less likely to hear about possibly-painful euthanasia experiences as we are about possibly-painful executions, though. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lethal_injection#Euthanasia_protocol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lethal_injection#Euthanasia_pr...
- knorby 11y agoI believe it is designed to cause pain and distress, because I've heard the designer of lethal injection say that's the point. Kinder methods were rejected because it was meant as a replacement for means like the electric chair, the gas chamber, and firing squads. It isn't meant to torture, but you aren't meant to drift softly into the night. The doc was on BBC Horizon (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7183957.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7183957.stm). The alternative suggested there is oxygen deprivation via nitrogen. Hopefully euthanasia patients will at least be monitored. They've struck me as more pleasant at least.
- cowsandmilk 11y agoWorth mentioning that Hospira previously manufactured the drug in North Carolina. Blaming Italy and the EU is a little odd when they continue to have manufacturing located in the US that would not have to deal with such regulations. According to the WSJ, it only generated $6MM in annual sales, which probably is not enough to a large company (even larger as it was acquired by Pfizer) to be associated with the death penalty. http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704754304576095980790129692 http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB100014240527487047543045760959...
- scintill76 11y agoThanks, I did read about North Carolina, but thought they'd completely shut down the plant there. So I guess they were forced to stop in NC due to production difficulties, canceled their plans again due to Italy/EU law, and then have never had sufficient reason to take the increasing PR hit and resumption costs for a relatively small market. And/or they genuinely decided to take a moral stance.