The AP report on the FDA lawsuit is, "FDA sued over shipments of drug used in executions." It's written by Greg bluestein and is via the Washington Post.
A federal lawsuit filed against the Food and Drug Administration urges a judge to block imports of a key drug used in the nation's executions that has been in short supply since the sole U.S. maker decided to stop producing it.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington, D.C., claims the FDA has knowingly allowed state corrections officials to import sodium thiopental, the sedative used in a three-drug execution cocktail, that has not been approved by the agency.
"It just seems wrong to allow these suspect goods into the country in violation of federal law just because they're used on prisoners rather than law-abiding citizens," said Brad Berenson, the attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of death row inmates in California, Arizona and Tennessee.
The shortage has delayed executions in several states, and an Associated Press review found that at least five states - Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia and Tennessee - had to turn to England for their supply of the drug. Nebraska, meanwhile, secured a stockpile from an Indian firm.
The lawsuit claims the FDA is neglecting its duty to inspect shipments of sodium thiopental, noting that there are no FDA-approved overseas manufacturers of the drug.
"From our perspective, the FDA has the obligation to make sure the anesthetic works whether it's used in a lethal injection or used in surgeries," Berenson said. "In each case, the purpose is the same - to relieve pain and suffering."
The FDA did not immediately respond to requests for comment, though the agency has long maintained it has nothing to do with the drugs used in executions. But its role has come under more scrutiny after the lone U.S. manufacturer of sodium thiopental, Hospira Inc., announced it would no longer make the drug.
Today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports, "State tight-lipped on execution drug," by Andy Davis.
The Arkansas Department of Correction on Thursday withheld information about its purchase of a British supplier’s lethal injection drug, saying the information is exempt under the state’s Methods of Execution Act.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette requested information about the purchase on Wednesday, a day after reporting allegations in a lawsuit by death-row inmates that the department bought the drug from a “ramshackle” business run from the back of a British driving school.
Attorneys for the inmates contend the department cannot guarantee the drug works because it has not been approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration.
In denying the newspaper’s Freedom of Information Act request, Assistant Director Dina Tyler cited the Methods of Execution Act.
Earlier coverage of the FDA lawsuit begins at the link; the civil law suit, Beaty v. FDA, is available in Adobe .pdf format. More on Dream Pharma, the British supplier is at the link. Earlier coverage of the Arkansas law, at the link.
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