RIP, lethal injections

Who knew only one company manufactured the key drug used in lethal injections.

Their main processing plant for it is in Italy. Italy says you can't produce it here anymore if it's going to be used in executions. So no more chemical for lethal injection executions.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jODoH_1TkFIsm6wVvPgW2LzxOEzQ?docId=bf71735e757d4ba5a0412f3ceb38a81c

 

The most creative argument I ever saw to stop lethal injections was that the drug is not approved by the FDA for that purpose, and thus the FDA was obligated to halt the usage.

 

What's the problem?

 

Just put it on the prison hospital's tab.

 

Rumors of the death penalty's demise were exaggerated.

 

Hello, firing squads...

 

Well, that's not the only purpose of those drugs. They do have medical uses, and in theory, you're not supposed to use drugs for things other than what they're approved by the FDA for.

This caused a big stink in the U.K. a few months ago when Arizona ordered the drug from a guy who turned out to be selling it from a car repair shop.

But yeah, the three-drug cocktail was on its way out anyway, I think. Most places have figured out that it's (a) easier and (b) less likely to lead to stays on grounds of cruel and unusual punishment to use one massive dose of a strong knockout drug.

 

Exactly. But apparently the FDA can enforce and not enforce at its discretion. As long as the enforcement isn't based on something like the race of the offenders. For example, if the FDA goes and lays the hammer down on black doctors for mis-prescribing OxyContin, it better be able to show that it also lays the hammer down on white doctors for mis-prescribing the same drug.

 

I guess heaven needed a way to execute people

 

Great thread title. Very, very well done.

 

Then, they tell the family that the condemned that he went to a home in the country where he would have plenty of room to run.

 

As I understand it, once a medication is approved by the FDA, a physician may choose to use it for off label indications. A couple of examples include Reglan, a medication used for nausea and vomiting, is used routinely intravenously for the treatment of migraine headaches and we can't forget Benadryl, indicated for allergic reactions, that is the active ingredient of over the counter sleeping medications.

As for lethal injections, one of the issues is finding a physician willing to actively supervise killing a person. At least with firing squads, with some blank ammunition, the squad does not know with certainty which shooter did the deed. A variety of medications are available to quickly and reliably execute a person. Examples include propofol injection (that of Michael Jackson infamy) to cause unconsciousness followed by high dose potassium to stop the heart.

I'm torn about the ethics of the death penalty. Wiser people than I have been unable to come to consensus.