A Danish pharmaceutical company has stepped into the lethal injection debate by insisting that its sedative cannot be used in executions in the United States.
Georgia recently replaced the sedative it previously used in the three-drug cocktail with phenobarbital when it lost its European source for sodium thiopental. Consequently, executions in Georgia were put on temporary hold.
Still, the use restriction that the company Lundbeck has imposed will not affect Georgia, according to the Department of Corrections. DOC spokeswoman Gwendolyn Hogan said Wednesday Georgia's sedative supply came from Cardinal Health in Ohio and not from Lundbeck, which produces the similar drug pentobarbital.
CEO Ulf Wiinberg said Lundbeck will impose “end user clauses” designed to prevent the use of Nembutal, the company’s brand name for its drug other states use in executions. He wrote U.S. officials that it is unsafe to use Nembutal in untested ways, including lethal injections.
Seven executions have been scheduled this month in states that use Nembutal.
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