On January 21, Hospira Inc., the sole U.S. man­u­fac­tur­er of sodi­um thiopen­tal, announced that it will no longer pro­duce an anes­thet­ic com­mon­ly used in lethal injec­tions around the United States. Hospira, which had planned to pro­duce the drug in its plant in Italy, made the deci­sion to end pro­duc­tion of the anes­thet­ic after Italian offi­cials demand­ed that the com­pa­ny make sure it will not be used for exe­cu­tions. Nebraska, a state that has not had an exe­cu­tion since 1997, obtained a sup­ply of sodi­um thiopen­tal from India that expires in 2012. In 2010, a short­age of sodi­um thiopen­tal from Hospira led states like Arizona and California to seek inter­na­tion­al sup­pli­ers, and states like Oklahoma to seek alter­na­tive anes­thet­ics. Oklahoma switched to pen­to­bar­bi­tal, a drug used in euth­a­niz­ing ani­mals, for its three-drug pro­to­col. Earlier this week, Ohio announced its intent to switch to a lethal dose of pen­to­bar­bi­tal for its one-drug pro­to­col. Click here for State-by-State Lethal Injection infor­ma­tion. For gen­er­al infor­ma­tion on the lethal injec­tion, click here.

(B. Japsen, ​“Hospira ceas­es pro­duc­tion of anes­thet­ic used in exe­cu­tions,” The Chicago Tribune, January 21, 2011, and oth­er news sources).

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