On December 20, the European Commission announced tough new restric­tions on the export of drugs that could be used for exe­cu­tions in the United States. The EC added pen­to­bar­bi­tal and sodi­um thiopen­tal — two drugs on which almost all American exe­cu­tions cur­rent­ly depend — to its list of restrict­ed prod­ucts that are tight­ly con­trolled on the grounds that they may be used for cru­el and inhu­man treat­ment or pun­ish­ment. ​“The deci­sion today con­tributes to the wider EU efforts to abol­ish the death penal­ty world­wide,” said the Commission’s vice-pres­i­dent, Catherine Ashton. The United Kingdom’s Business Secretary, Vince Cable, wel­comed the new reg­u­la­tions, say­ing, ​“We have led the way by intro­duc­ing nation­al con­trols on the export to the United States of cer­tain drugs, which could be used for the pur­pose of lethal injec­tion. However we have always stat­ed our clear pref­er­ence for action at EU lev­el and I am pleased that, fol­low­ing our ini­tia­tive, these steps are now being tak­en.” Last year, the sole man­u­fac­tur­er of sodi­um thiopen­tal, Hospira, Inc., announced it would no longer pro­duce the drug. In 2011, Lundbeck, Inc., the Danish man­u­fac­tur­er of pen­to­bar­bi­tal, made efforts to block the sale of its prod­uct to any penal insti­tu­tion in the United States. All U.S. exe­cu­tions in 2011 were con­duct­ed by lethal injection.

(E. Pilkington, ​“Europe moves to block trade in med­ical drugs used in US exe­cu­tions,” The Guardian, December 20, 2011). See International and Lethal Injection.

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