Lethal Injection

Statements from drug manufacturers and medical professionals

American Nurses Association Position Statement on Capital Punishment and Nurses’ Participation in Capital Punishment (Dec. 2016); American Nurses Association Position on Nurse Participation in Executions (Jan. 28, 2010)
STATEMENT FROM ATHENEX, producer of midazolam obtained by the state of Arkansas, opposing the use of any of its products in capital punishment (Nov. 8, 2017)
STATEMENT FROM JANSSEN, A DIVISION OF JOHNSON & JOHNSON, which created the drug etomidate, but no longer manufacters it, speaking out against use of its medicines in lethal injections for capital punishment (Aug. 21, 2017)
STATEMENT FROM PFIZER opposing the use of its products in executions (May 13, 2016) (updated Feb. 2, 2017)
STATEMENT FROM THE AMERICAN PHARMACISTS ASSOCIATION discouraging member participation in executions (March 30, 2015)
STATEMENT FROM THE INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF COMPOUNDING PHARMACISTS, discouraging members from providing drugs for executions (March 24, 2015)
STATEMENT FROM AKORN, producer of midazolam and hydromorphone, on opposition to the use of their product in executions (March 4, 2015)
STATEMENT FROM ROCHE, producer of midazolam, on opposition to the use of their product in executions (January 16, 2015)
Affidavit from Dr. Kent Dively, anesthesiologist, on the execution of Dennis McGuire in Ohio (August 4, 2014)
STATEMENT FROM PAR PHARMACEUTICALS, maker of Brevital, announcing measures to block the use of their drug in executions. (May 28, 2014)
Physicians, Medical Ethics, and Execution by Lethal Injection, Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Robert Truog, I. Glenn Cohen, JD, and Dr. Mark Rockoff (May 19, 2014)
STATEMENT FROM THE CONSTITUTION PROJECT on the execution of Clayton Lockett, signed by 13 correctional officials calling for a full independent inquiry (April 30, 2014)
STATEMENT FROM THE MISSOURI SOCIETY OF ANESTHESIOLOGISTS on the use of propofol in executions (September 26, 2013).
STATEMENT FROM HIKMA, maker of phenobarbital, announcing measures to keep their drug from being used in executions. (May 15, 2013).
STATEMENT FROM FRESENIUS KABI, maker of propofol, announcing measures to keep their drug from being used in executions. Read the full article from the Associated Press (September 28, 2012).
STATEMENT FROM 25 PROMINENT EUROPEAN DOCTORS in an open letter to Hospira’s President Michael Ball, asking him to restrict distribution of pancuronium bromide, a muscle relaxant that is used as the 2nd drug in many lethal injections. (Jan. 7, 2012).
TRANSFER OF PENTOBARBITAL MANUFACTURE FROM DENMARK TO U.S.: Akorn, Inc., a pharmaceutical company based in Lake Forest, Illinois, has acquired manufacturing rights for pentobarbital from Lundbeck, Inc. According to the Associated Press, the “distribution system meant to keep the drug out of the hands of prisons will remain in place.” (A. Welsh-Huggins, “Lundbeck Sells Pentobarbital Rights,” Associated Press, December 21, 2011)
STATEMENT FROM LUNDBECK, INC., maker of pentobarbital, on distribution restrictions to prevent use in executions (July 1, 2011)
Open letter from over 60 doctors to the CEO of Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals, calling for actions to prevent the use of pentobarbital in executions (The Lancet, June 9, 2011)
STATEMENT FROM LUNDBECK, INC., maker of pentobarbital, on the use of their drugs for executions. (Jan. 26, 2011)
STATEMENT FROM HOSPIRA, sole U.S. manufacturer of thiopental sodium, on their ending of their production of this drug. (Jan. 21, 2011)
American Board of Anesthesiology Forbidding Participation by Members in Executions (April 2, 2010)
STATEMENT FROM HOSPIRA, sole U.S. manufacturer of thiopental sodium, on the use of their drugs for executions. (Mar. 31, 2010)
Other Statements from medical organizations