The exe­cu­tion of Kelly Gissendaner was post­poned just hours before it was sched­uled to take place on March 2, after cor­rec­tion­al offi­cials in Georgia became con­cerned that the lethal injec­tion chem­i­cals appeared cloudy. ​“The Department of Corrections imme­di­ate­ly con­sult­ed with a phar­ma­cist, and in an abun­dance of cau­tion, Inmate Gissendaner’s exe­cu­tion has been post­poned,” the Department of Corrections said in a state­ment. Georgia is one of sev­er­al states that have turned to com­pound­ing phar­ma­cies for lethal injec­tion drugs after large phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal com­pa­nies blocked the use of their prod­ucts in exe­cu­tions. A state secre­cy law shields the iden­ti­ty of the drug pre­par­er. Gissendaner’s lawyers had filed appeals with the U.S. Supreme Court argu­ing that the lack of trans­paren­cy could allow the use of drugs that were unre­li­able. Georgia has not yet announced a new exe­cu­tion date. Gissendaner’s exe­cu­tion was pre­vi­ous­ly moved from February 25 to March 2 due to a winter storm.

(T. Connor, ​“Georgia Execution of Kelly Gissendaner Postponed for Drug Issue,” NBC News, March 2, 2015.) See Lethal Injection and Women.

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