Missouri’s New Execution Protocol Hides Source of Drugs

After concerns were raised that Missouri’s proposed use of the anesthetic propofol in executions could endanger the supply of that drug for use in surgeries, Governor Jay Nixon ordered the Department of Corrections to revise the state’s lethal injection protocol. Experts say that the new protocol, which hides the source of the pentobarbital that will now be used in executions, could result in substandard drugs being used to execute prisoners. The state plans to use a compounding pharmacy to produce the drug, but and inspection of compounding pharmacies by the Missouri Board of Pharmacy found about 1 in 5 drugs did not meet their standards. Randy Juhl, the former dean of the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Pharmacy, questioned whether the statute that regulates compounding pharmacies even allows them to legally provide drugs for an execution, since it requires that a prescription be “issued for a legitimate medical purpose.” John Simon, a constitutional lawyer representing death row inmate Joseph Paul Franklin, said he is concerned that the drug could cause Franklin “a lengthy, excruciating death.” “Criminal penalties aren’t intended to drag us down to the level of the worst offenders,” Simon said. Franklin is scheduled to be executed on November 20.

(C. McDaniel and V. LaCapra, “Mo. Moving Forward With Executions, Despite Secrecy Over Drug Supply,” KWMU-FM, November 14, 2013.) See Lethal Injection.