Pharma Company Halts Executions in United States

I read with great interest a Washington Post article today about the company Hospira. Having spent a dozen years in North Carolina, I'm aware of their presence as a manufacturer there. The short version of the story is this.... Hospira makes the drug sodium thiopental. This, in combination with some more common compounds, makes up the suite of drugs used in lethal injections in the United States. Hospira moved the manufacturing plant for the sodium thiopental to Italy. Then, the Italian authorities demanded that the company ensure that the end use of its drug was not for executions. In response, Hospira has decided to discontinue the manufacturing of the drug entirely.

Conclusion: A drug company has just ended lethal injections in the United States. That's right, a drug company.

Now, there are a number of other ways one can devise to deliver a lethal injection to a human being. However, it may take some time before these methods can be approved in the states where inmates are on death row and awaiting the most severe punishment our legal system has.

That's a diversion. Back to the most fascinating component in terms of science policy. A drug company, not a court, not a politician, not a legislative body, not an advocacy group... a drug company who cited potential liability from a foreign government just made a very serious dent into lethal injections in the United States.