UPDATE: Execution stayed by federal court on Nov. 8 to allow time for appeal. Pennsylvania is planning to use drugs in an upcoming execution that are not regulated by the federal Food and Drug Administration but rather are made to order by a compounding pharmacy. A compounding pharmacy has been implicated in the deadly meningitis outbreak in the U.S. caused by contaminated drugs. In Missouri, the Pharmacy Board tested claimed drug dosages from compounding pharmacies from 2006 to 2009 and found that the pharmacies failed 1 out 5 times, with dosages ranging from zero to many times of what was prescribed. Compounding pharmacies in Texas failed to deliver drugs of the proper dosage in one-third of tests done there. This is crucial because an improper dosage could subject the inmate to excruciating pain. The state fought hard to keep the source of its drugs out of court, snubbing two federal court orders to divulge the information, finally complying at the last minute after the threat of sanctions. A federal class action suit has been filed challenging Pennsylvania’s execution protocol. The suit could affect the execution of Hubert Michael, Jr., scheduled for November 8.
(D. Gilliland, “Pennsylvania gets its execution drugs from same type of pharmacy as the one responsible for bacterial meningitis outbreak,” Patriot-News, Nov. 6, 2012). See Lethal Injection.
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