No execution after company objects to use of its drug

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 probability of winning its lawsuit, and she issued the temporary restraining order against the use of the drug. Gonzalez set another hearing for Sept. 10.

Dozier was sentenced to death in 2007 for robbing, killing and dismembering 22-yearold Jeremiah Miller at a Las Vegas motel in 2002. Miller had come to Nevada to buy ingredients to make meth.