In milestone decision, Pfizer blocks use of its drugs in U.S. executions
Pharmaceutical giant is the last FDA-approved company to impose controls
“Executing states must now go underground if they want to get hold of medicines for use in lethal injection.” MAYA FOA HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATE
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced Friday that it has imposed sweeping controls on the distribution of its products to ensure that none is used in lethal injections, a step that closes off the last remaining open-market source of drugs used in U.S. executions.
More than 20 U.S. and European drug companies have already adopted such restrictions, citing either moral or business reasons. Nonetheless, the decision from one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical manufacturers is seen as a milestone.
“With Pfizer’s announcement, all FDA-approved manufacturers of any potential execution drug have now blocked their sale for this purpose,” said Maya Foa, who tracks drug companies for Reprieve, a London-based human rights advocacy group.
“Executing states must now go underground if they want to get hold of medicines for use in lethal injection.”
The obstacles to lethal injection have grown in the past five years as manufacturers, seeking to avoid as- sociation with executions, have banned the sale of their products to corrections agencies. Experiments with new drugs, a series of botched executions and covert efforts to obtain lethal chemicals have mired many states in court challenges.
The mounting difficulty in obtaining lethal drugs has already caused states to furtively scramble for supplies.
Some states have used straw buyers or tried to import drugs from abroad that are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, only to see them seized by federal agents.
Some have covertly bought supplies from compounding pharmacies while others, including Arizona, Oklahoma and Ohio, have been forced to delay executions for months or longer because of drug shortages or legal issues tied to injection procedures.
A few states have adopted the electric chair, firing squad or the gas chamber as an alternative if lethal drugs are not available.
Pfizer’s decision follows its acquisition last year of Hospira, a company that has made seven drugs used in executions, including barbiturates, sedatives and agents that cause paralysis or heart failure. Its products were used in a prolonged, apparently agonizing execution in Ohio in 2014, and are stockpiled by Arkansas, according to documents obtained by reporters.
Dennis McGuire, a convicted murderer and rapist, was executed with an untested combination of drugs in Ohio on Jan.16, 2014. McGuire’s family said the execution, which took about 25 minutes and caused McGuire to gasp and choke, constituted cruel and unusual punishment.