Tennessee’s failed execution of Christa Pike this week has resulted in fresh scrutiny of the shaky and secretive supply chain for lethal injection drugs. Pharmaceutical companies no longer provide drugs for executions. So U.S. states have turned to loosely or even unregulated sources for the deadly cocktails, which experts say make lethal injections less reliable.
Pike, who was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of Colleen Slemmer, got two doses of pentobarbital, a sedative that at least 17 states use for capital punishment. Officials had to call Pike’s procedure off and send her to a hospital because she was still alive after the injections. The Tennessee Department of Correction said they followed established protocol and that the drug has consistently been effective. The department declined to answer questions about where the drug was sourced.
It is the second failed execution attempt in Tennessee this year. In the attempted lethal injection of a different inmate in May, a medical professional failed to establish the IV correctly. Major medical groups condemn lethal injections so the people administering the drugs often have limited medical qualifications, experts said.
States have since turned to compounding pharmacies, which make customized, non-FDA-approved versions of prescription medicines. States often buy a powdered form of pentobarbital in bulk directly from domestic or overseas suppliers, which compounding pharmacies turn into injectable solutions. One court filing says Tennessee spent more than $1 million on pentobarbital for executions over two years, though it didn’t name the suppliers.
Source: Wall Street Journal US Business · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing