Execution put on hold after company opposes drug use

Planned 3-chemical injection includes drugmaker’s sedative

LAS VEGAS — A Nevada judge effectively put the execution of a two-time killer on hold Wednesday after a pharmaceutical company objected to the use of one of its drugs to put someone to death.

Clark County District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez disallowed the use of the drug in a ruling that came down less than nine hours before Scott Raymond Dozier, 47, was to be executed with a three-chemical injection never before tried in the U.S.

Nevada prisons spokeswoman Brooke Santina had no immediate comment. State officials could appeal right away to the Nevada Supreme Court.

New Jersey-based Alvogen had urged the judge to block the use of its sedative midazolam, saying the state illegally secured the product through “subterfuge” and intended it for unapproved purposes. The pharmaceutical company also raised fears that the drug could lead to a botched execution, citing cases that apparently went awry elsewhere around the country.

Todd Bice, an attorney with Alvogen, accused the state of deceptively obtaining the drug by having it shipped to a pharmacy in Las Vegas rather than the state prison in Ely. He said Alvogen had sent a letter to state officials in April telling them it opposes the use of its products in executions, particularly midazolam.

The judge ruled that based on that letter, Alvogen had a reasonable chance of winning its lawsuit, and she issued the temporary restraining order against the use of the drug. Gonzalez set another hearing for Sept. 10.

Pharmaceutical companies have resisted the use of their drugs in executions for 10 years, citing legal and ethical concerns. But the legal challenge filed by Alvogen is only the second of its kind in the U.S., said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington. The previous challenge, brought last year by a different company in Arkansas, was ultimately unsuccessful.

Alvogen said in a statement that it was pleased with the ruling.

A second pharmaceutical company, Sandoz, also raised objections at Wednesday’s hearing to the use of one of its drugs — the muscle-paralyzing substance cisatracurium — in Dozier’s execution.