Death Penalty in the United States: The manufacturer of sodium thiopenthal stopped production

The pharmaceutical company Hospira, the only United States that made the thiopenthal, the anesthetic used in executions by lethal injection, has decided to cease production, "he said Friday in a statement. All projectors were turned to Hospira in late summer 2010 when several American states have begun to seek solutions to overcome the breakdown of national stock of thiopental.

The lab was the only one to have received approval from the U.S. Agency for the manufacture of the drug in the United States. The laboratory at the time insisted on the fact that he produced "this anesthetic for hospitals, not for capital punishment, and did not encourage its use in this type of procedure." Production was resumed in early 2011 but Hospira "withdraws from the market and thiopental does more to resume production," said the lab Friday.

The laboratory said that he wanted to produce this product in its factory in Italy but the authorities there had demanded that the anesthetic is not used for executions. "These discussions and exchanges internally we suggest that we can not prevent the product from being used by the prison authorities for execution," said Hospira.

"We can not take the risk of being held accountable by the Italian authorities of that use," he said, ensuring "not ready to take that risk." "We regret that the discussions which we have no control have forced Hospira to withdraw from the market and our many customers who use this hospital profits known anesthetic can no longer be purchased by Hospira," he said .

The lethal cocktail injected into condemned consists of three products distributed by users. First thiopental which lulls, then pancuronium, which paralyzes the muscles and stops breathing, and finally potassium chloride which stops the heart. The latter two products would be extremely painful if the convict had not been asleep before.

When the Supreme Court in 2008 validated the method of lethal injection, it was determined that it was not a "cruel and unusual punishment" prohibited by the Constitution, insofar as states used thiopental. American States that were affected by the out of stock in 2010 have sometimes, like Kentucky, delayed executions.

But mostly, Hospira is the only manufacturer approved by U.S. health authorities is the system that prevailed D. Arizona imported thiopental Britain with the blessing of the Supreme Court and then sold some to California, according to documents revealed by the Organization of American civil liberties (ACLU).

This maneuver has earned the British government of being attacked by the Organization of human rights group Reprieve. Oklahoma's side has taken a first dose at Arkansas before changing to simply numbing the benefit of a product used to euthanize animals, pentobarbital. The last doses manufactured by Hospira approaching their expiry date, the problem will now arise in all states including the two most active in terms of execution, the Texas and Ohio.

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