The death penalty has been in the news lately, what with a "botched" execution in Ohio, using a 2 drug method that Louisiana has also recently adopted for it's administration of the death penalty.
These changes come on the heels of a new tactic by death penalty opponents: getting European countries to ban their pharmaceutical manufacturers from exporting drugs that may be used to execute people. These bans were partially responsible for nationwide shortages of several anesthetic drugs a few years ago. Long story short, propofol, the 'Michael Jackson drug', went into shortage due to the contamination of a major supplier, and a perfect storm of low prices( due it being a generic drug) and extreme difficulties in manufacturing it correctly and with sterility. Sodium thiopental, the older back-up to propofol, came into demand. Promptly thereafter, the manufacturer stopped selling it in the US due to it's use in lethal injections, leading to a nationwide shortage of anesthetic drugs and the temporary importation of drugs from Canada.
In any case because of chronic shortages and problems with vein access (more on this later) the traditional method that had been used, a three drug combo of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride, has been abandoned in many states.
These changes come on the heels of a new tactic by death penalty opponents: getting European countries to ban their pharmaceutical manufacturers from exporting drugs that may be used to execute people. These bans were partially responsible for nationwide shortages of several anesthetic drugs a few years ago. Long story short, propofol, the 'Michael Jackson drug', went into shortage due to the contamination of a major supplier, and a perfect storm of low prices( due it being a generic drug) and extreme difficulties in manufacturing it correctly and with sterility. Sodium thiopental, the older back-up to propofol, came into demand. Promptly thereafter, the manufacturer stopped selling it in the US due to it's use in lethal injections, leading to a nationwide shortage of anesthetic drugs and the temporary importation of drugs from Canada.
In any case because of chronic shortages and problems with vein access (more on this later) the traditional method that had been used, a three drug combo of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride, has been abandoned in many states.
