By Chris McDaniel
A federal judge has ordered an Oklahoma-based pharmacy to not sell the Missouri Department of Corrections its execution drug, at least until a hearing scheduled for next week.
A Missouri inmate scheduled to be executed at the end of the month sued the pharmacy, hoping to stop the supply of the drug that would soon be injected into him.
The Apothecary Shoppe, a Tulsa-based compounding pharmacy, has supplied pentobarbital for three recent executions in Missouri, but became registered to sell here only last week.
"[The Apothecary Shoppe] is temporarily restrained from issuing compounded pentobarbital to the State of Missouri Department of Corrections for use in Plaintiff’s execution by lethal injection," Judge Terrence Kern in Oklahoma wrote.
He set a hearing for Feb. 18 for both sides to make their case.
The state's execution methods (and secrecy) have been the subject of much controversy. It was the impetus behind a legislative hearing in which state officials testified, and for multiple bills aiming to curtail the Department of Corrections' power.
The lawsuit, filed by inmate Michael Taylor's attorneys on Tuesday, raises many of the same issues that we've previously reported on. Missouri is now relying on a compounding pharmacy to mix the execution drug. Compounding pharmacies are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and their products have a significantly higher failure rate than those made by manufacturers.
In fact, there's a law that prohibits pharmacies from creating a copy of an FDA-approved drug, like pentobarbital.
"[The Apothecary Shoppe] cannot produce this drug so that it's safe and effective, and there are all kinds of risks associated with that," attorney Carrie Apfel said in an interview.
"The drug can be sub-potent, which means it's not powerful enough to do what it's supposed to do," Apfel said. "It could be adulterated or have a contaminant in it."
Apfel and her fellow attorneys are arguing that the drug's injection would violate the Eighth Amendment, which bars cruel and unusual punishment.
Taylor's attorneys asked the judge to issue an order restraining the Apothecary Shoppe from supplying the drug to the Department of Corrections. State officials have testified that they typically travel to Oklahoma to pick up the drug and pay for it in cash
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Originally published on Wed February 12, 2014 8:08 pm
A federal judge has ordered an Oklahoma-based pharmacy to not sell the Missouri Department of Corrections its execution drug, at least until a hearing scheduled for next week.
A Missouri inmate scheduled to be executed at the end of the month sued the pharmacy, hoping to stop the supply of the drug that would soon be injected into him.
The Apothecary Shoppe, a Tulsa-based compounding pharmacy, has supplied pentobarbital for three recent executions in Missouri, but became registered to sell here only last week.
"[The Apothecary Shoppe] is temporarily restrained from issuing compounded pentobarbital to the State of Missouri Department of Corrections for use in Plaintiff’s execution by lethal injection," Judge Terrence Kern in Oklahoma wrote.
He set a hearing for Feb. 18 for both sides to make their case.
The state's execution methods (and secrecy) have been the subject of much controversy. It was the impetus behind a legislative hearing in which state officials testified, and for multiple bills aiming to curtail the Department of Corrections' power.
The lawsuit, filed by inmate Michael Taylor's attorneys on Tuesday, raises many of the same issues that we've previously reported on. Missouri is now relying on a compounding pharmacy to mix the execution drug. Compounding pharmacies are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and their products have a significantly higher failure rate than those made by manufacturers.
In fact, there's a law that prohibits pharmacies from creating a copy of an FDA-approved drug, like pentobarbital.
"[The Apothecary Shoppe] cannot produce this drug so that it's safe and effective, and there are all kinds of risks associated with that," attorney Carrie Apfel said in an interview.
"The drug can be sub-potent, which means it's not powerful enough to do what it's supposed to do," Apfel said. "It could be adulterated or have a contaminant in it."
Apfel and her fellow attorneys are arguing that the drug's injection would violate the Eighth Amendment, which bars cruel and unusual punishment.
Taylor's attorneys asked the judge to issue an order restraining the Apothecary Shoppe from supplying the drug to the Department of Corrections. State officials have testified that they typically travel to Oklahoma to pick up the drug and pay for it in cash
continue to read here
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