Pfizer Announces Restrictions to Keep States From Using Its Medicines in Executions

On May 13, the phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal com­pa­ny Pfizer announced that it would impose strict dis­tri­b­u­tion con­trols to block states from obtain­ing and using its med­i­cines in exe­cu­tions. In a state­ment, the com­pa­ny said, ​“Pfizer makes its prod­ucts to enhance and save the lives of the patients we serve. Consistent with these val­ues, Pfizer strong­ly objects to the use of its prod­ucts as lethal injec­tions for cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment.” With Pfizer’s announce­ment, every major phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal com­pa­ny that pro­duces drugs that have been used in lethal injec­tions has voiced oppo­si­tion to involve­ment in exe­cu­tions. The phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal com­pa­nies are joined by med­ical orga­ni­za­tions includ­ing the American Pharmacists Association, the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacies, and the American Medical Association, which all oppose their mem­bers’ par­tic­i­pa­tion in exe­cu­tions. ​“It’s very sig­nif­i­cant that the phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal indus­try is speak­ing with a uni­fied, sin­gu­lar voice,” said Megan McCracken, a lawyer at the Death Penalty Clinic at the University of California Berkeley School of Law. ​“Saying we don’t want our prod­ucts used this way and actu­al­ly tak­ing steps to ensure that they aren’t.” Pfizer’s announce­ment will make it more dif­fi­cult for states to obtain lethal injec­tion drugs on the open mar­ket and through drug redis­trib­u­tors. The unavail­abil­i­ty of exe­cu­tion drugs from these sources has dri­ven states to seek alter­na­tive, and in some cas­es ille­gal, sources for these drugs, and has caused legal chal­lenges in numerous states.

(E. Eckholm, ​“Pfizer Blocks the Use of Its Drugs in Executions,” The New York Times, May 13, 2016; M. Berman, ​“Pfizer tight­ens restric­tions to keep drugs from being used in exe­cu­tions,” The Washington Post, May 13, 2016; R. Wolf and J. O’Donnell, ​“Pfizer rules on lethal injec­tion drugs may lim­it death penal­ty exe­cu­tions,” USA Today, May 13, 2016.) See Lethal Injection. Read Pfizer’s state­ment.