Kentucky Governor Steven Beshear recent­ly held off sign­ing death war­rants for two inmates because of a short­age of the drug sodi­um thiopen­tal, a key com­po­nent of the state’s lethal injec­tion pro­to­col. Kentucky’s stock of the lethal injec­tion drug expires October 1, and the Department of Corrections does not expect a new sup­ply until ear­ly 2011 because the only sup­pli­er of this drug in the coun­try, Hospira, is unable to obtain the active ingre­di­ent for the drug. Even when a new sup­pli­er for the active ingre­di­ent is found, FDA approval will be need­ed. The gov­er­nor did set a September 16 date for the exe­cu­tion of Gregory Wilson, which could occur before the state’s sup­ply of the drug expires. In Oklahoma, the state’s Department of Corrections recent­ly tried to sub­sti­tute anoth­er drug for sodi­um thiopen­tal for the exe­cu­tion of Jeffrey Matthews because of con­cerns about the puri­ty of the sup­ply on hand. A fed­er­al judge stayed the exe­cu­tion of Matthews in order to pro­vide time to study the sit­u­a­tion. Attorneys for Matthews chal­lenged the sub­sti­tu­tion of a new drug as a form of human exper­i­men­ta­tion. Almost all states in the coun­try use essen­tial­ly the same pro­to­col for lethal injections.

(C. Coffey, ​“Ky. gov­er­nor hold­ing off on some exe­cu­tions due to short­age of key drug,” WHAS11​.com, August 26, 2010; S. Williams-Allen, ​“State believes drug in com­pli­ance with statute,” The Purcell Register (OK), August 26, 2010; Letter of Gov. Beshear to Hospira, Aug. 23, 2010). Read more about the Lethal Injection and Botched Executions. See Methods of Execution.

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