Other states could follow Oklahoma's lead in using a sedative commonly used to euthanize animals in its lethal injection formula because of a nationwide shortage of a key ingredient in the three-drug cocktail, death penalty experts say....
>>>Other states could follow Oklahoma's lead in using a sedative commonly used to euthanize animals in its lethal injection formula because of a nationwide shortage of a key ingredient in the three-drug cocktail, death penalty experts say.
John David Duty is believed to be the first person in the United States whose execution included the use of pentobarbital. The 58-year-old was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m. Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.
Oklahoma and several other states traditionally have used the barbiturate sodium thiopental to put an inmate to sleep, then two other drugs — pancuronium bromide, which paralyzes muscles, and potassium chloride, which stops the heart.
But Hospira Inc. — the only U.S. manufacturer of sodium thiopental — said Thursday new batches of the drug could be available "in the first quarter" of next year. They blamed the shortage on problems with its raw-material providers.
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