EU imposes controls on export of execution drug

[Mahone]

BBC News - EU imposes strict controls on 'execution drug' exports

This has and may continue to slow down the rate of executions in the US and potentially other countries.

"Distressing misuse"

Earlier this year its only US manufacturer, Hospira, stopped making the drug.

It is still made in Britain, Italy, Germany, Austria and Denmark, but in April, an emergency export ban was imposed in the UK after the human rights group Reprieve sued the government.

Indian produce Kayem Pharmaceuticals has also said it will no longer sell the drug to US prisons.

The shortage in the US has already led to a marked decreased in the number of executions being carried out.

Some states have stockpiled sodium thiopental while others switched to using an alternative, pentobarbital, but that is also covered by the EU ban.

The Danish manufacturer of pentobarbital, Lundbeck, has objected to the "distressing misuse" of its product, designed for epilepsy treatment, and introduced checks to ensure it is not shipped to US prisons.

The executive director of Reprieve, Clare Algar, said the Commission's ruling was an "important and positive first step".

"Any pharmaceutical company wishing to preserve an ethical reputation must take steps to ensure their drugs are not used to kill prisoners," she said in a statement.

[Dravin]

Really if a state wants to terminate lives it will find a way. I can see this being a temporary set-back but push comes to shove, at least with the US, it's not like the know how to create the drug, or find an alternative*, doesn't exist in country. Though anti-capital punishment folks are probably happy over the development and I can see why even if it ends up being a temporary thing.

*Which very well may require changes in legislation.

[Mahone]

Really if a state wants to terminate lives it will find a way. I can see this being a temporary set-back but push comes to shove, at least with the US, it's not like the know how to create the drug, or find an alternative*, doesn't exist in country. Though anti-capital punishment folks are probably happy over the development and I can see why even if it ends up being a temporary thing.

*Which very well may require changes in legislation.

It will be temporary, at least initially. The reason that there is only one company in the US that produced sodium thiopental is because it is almost solely used in executions - there isn't much market for it. That company has now stopped making the drug, because of of a shortage of raw materials on US soil used to make it. They have also made an official statement saying they oppose the usage of their products in such a way. The entire European Union is well on it's way to stopping exports of any drug the US uses primarily for this purpose. They are also now struggling to get the drugs from India due to public pressure.

While I'm pretty sure, like any other government, the US are able to find other methods to create the physical means to do what they want, they won't be able to ignore the mounting outside pressure against them. What they'll do to respond to that pressure remains to be seen, but it's worth bearing in mind that globally, capital punishment is slowly diminishing, as is public support globally. Something will have to give eventually, I'm just not sure when that will happen or what it'll be.

[Traveler]

Hmmmm - we could kill two birds with one stone! Our military has a number of lethal compounds it is trying to figure out how to get rid of?

The Traveler

[RipplecutBuddha]

I wouldn't object to resuming the practice of severe doses of lead to the brain. Just sayin'...

[Dravin]

I wouldn't object to resuming the practice of severe doses of lead to the brain. Just sayin'...

A hanging done properly is also suppose to be quick and painless. I doubt sensibilities would allow for it though. Much the point of lethal injection is it looks 'medical/scientific' which makes it more palatable to a lot of people.

Edited January 2, 2012 by Dravin

[Vort]

Decapitation is also quick, painless, and instantaneous. But it's icky and bloody. When we execute someone, it has to be neat and tidy so no one has to clean up a big mess.

[Mahone]

Decapitation is also quick, painless, and instantaneous. But it's icky and bloody. When we execute someone, it has to be neat and tidy so no one has to clean up a big mess.

This is debatable.... there is an argument that the head can remain conscious for up to 8 (the exact number is obviously subjective) seconds after being severed from the body.

[Just_A_Guy]

Didn't some scientist during the French Revolution test that hypothesis by blinking a distinct pattern at his assistant for some few seconds after he had been guillotined?

[Mahone]

Supposedly Antoine Lavoisier, although I'm struggling to find any reliable sources for that. Odd how I find such a subject interesting - guess it must be a morbid curiosity

[Vort]

This is debatable.... there is an argument that the head can remain conscious for up to 8 (the exact number is obviously subjective) seconds after being severed from the body.

Here is one definition of "instantaneous":

• : done, occurring, or acting without any perceptible duration of time <death was instantaneous>

• : done without any delay being purposely introduced <took instantaneous corrective action>

• : occurring or present at a particular instant <instantaneous velocity>

I was speaking more in sense #2 than in sense #1. I realize that a decapitated person might remain conscious for a few moments, but death is essentially instantaneous, especially when compared to, say, death by firing squad.

[RipplecutBuddha]

I'm simply of the opinion that there are crimes in this life that warrant capitol punishment. I think the nations withholding the drugs we need are doing the right thing from their perspective, and their social customs. However, until public sentiment changes here, I think it would be unwise to allow such events to change how we enforce our laws, much less what our laws are.

While we are becoming a world community, I don't think we're at the point where it's safe to change just because someone else doesn't like what we do here.