Lundbeck Inc., a com­pa­ny based in Denmark and the sole U.S. man­u­fac­tur­er of pen­to­bar­bi­tal, a new drug select­ed by Ohio and Oklahoma for their lethal injec­tion pro­to­cols, has request­ed that states not use the drug to exe­cute inmates. The com­pa­ny recent­ly announced that their drug was nev­er intend­ed to be used in exe­cu­tions. A spokes­woman for the com­pa­ny said, ​“This goes against every­thing we’re in busi­ness to do. We like to devel­op and make avail­able ther­a­pies that improve peo­ple’s lives. That’s the focus of our busi­ness.” Some med­ical experts have also raised con­cerns about the use of pen­to­bar­bi­tal in exe­cu­tions, par­tic­u­lar­ly as part of a 3‑drug process. Harvard med­ical pro­fes­sor David Waisel said, ​“The use of pen­to­bar­bi­tal as an agent to induce anes­the­sia has no clin­i­cal his­to­ry and is non-stan­dard. Because of these sig­nif­i­cant unknowns, and a lack of clin­i­cal his­to­ry relat­ed to using pen­to­bar­bi­tal to induce anes­the­sia, using pen­to­bar­bi­tal as part of a 3‑drug lethal injec­tion pro­to­col puts the inmate at an undue risk of suf­fer­ing.” Oklahoma became the first state to use pen­to­bar­bi­tal as a part of its three-drug injec­tion pro­to­col, replac­ing sodi­um thiopen­tal as the first drug. Ohio, which was the first state to switch to a one-drug pro­to­col, has recent­ly announced its inten­tion to use pen­to­bar­bi­tal alone for its exe­cu­tions. A form of pen­to­bar­bi­tal has also been used by vet­eri­nar­i­ans to euthanize pets.

(A. Welsh-Huggins, ​“APNewsBreak: Drug mak­er asks Ohio, Oklahoma not to use seda­tive for putting inmates to death,” The Canadian Press, January 27, 2011). See Lethal Injection.

Citation Guide