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Topic: Acton company selling lethal injection drug
Posted by: Kevin Regan
Date/Time: 20/02/11 14:54:00

Seems to have been some problem with the quality of the drugs supplied....
Two American prisoners died in agony in botched lethal injections after being given allegedly defective anaesthetic supplied by a British drug company.
The grisly details of the deaths of murderers Emmanuel Hammond, executed by the state of Georgia last month, and Brandon Rhode, put to death there last September, will form the basis of a High Court action to be launched on Tuesday.
Both kept their eyes open when they should have been in a coma and Hammond grimaced in pain.
The legal action, brought by the campaign group Reprieve on behalf of the Rhode family, aims to force the British pharmaceutical regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA), to recall all the anaesthetic supplied for executions by Dream Pharma, a tiny company located in West London.
If successful, the case would halt executions in Georgia and many other states. U.S. ‘execution protocols’ say the anaesthetic, sodium thiopental, must be administered first in lethal injections to render the prisoner fully unconscious.
Then he or she is given pancuronium bromide, a muscle relaxant that makes it impossible to breathe, and potassium chloride, a caustic chemical that stops the heart.
There are no U.S. firms currently able to supply thiopental. Dream Pharma’s consignments, sent last summer to states including Georgia, California, Arkansas and Arizona, were the last from Britain before Business Secretary Vince Cable imposed a ban in December on exporting drugs for executions.
The Mail on Sunday interviewed three witnesses to the most recent botched execution, that of Hammond, 45, who raped and murdered a teacher, Julie Love, in 1988. All said that he remained conscious as he was put to death on January 24.
Professor Sheri Johnson, of Cornell University law school, a member of Hammond’s legal team, said she stared at him throughout as she knew the previous prisoner to be executed using the Dream Pharma thiopental – Rhode – had kept his eyes open throughout and had not lost consciousness.
Prof Johnson said: ‘He closed his eyes perhaps ten seconds after the drugs started. But then, some time later, he opened them again. Perhaps one or two minutes after that, his mouth screwed up to one side. It looked painful, as if it could be a grimace of pain.’
Reporter Josh Green also said Hammond first closed and then reopened his eyes some time after receiving the thiopental. Later, he wrote, he observed Hammond give out ‘short bursts of breath that lifted his lips’.
Jill Rand, a Florida nurse who became Hammond’s penfriend, said that she too saw him move his lips.
Several witnesses also said Rhode, 31 – who murdered three members of the same family in 2000 – kept his eyes open throughout.
Maya Foa, an investigator at Reprieve, said: ‘If it’s not recalled, more prisoners are likely to die in agony.’
Georgia’s next scheduled execution is on March 1.
Ms Foa said Reprieve was also taking statements from witnesses to a third ‘botched’ execution – Jeffrey Landrigan, 50, in Arizona in October.
Dream Pharma last night failed to respond to requests for comment.
An MHRA spokeswoman said it could not comment on the pending legal action.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1358770/Prisoners-agony-botched-executions-British-drug.html#ixzz1EVmKJbQT


Entire Thread
TopicDate PostedPosted By
Acton company selling lethal injection drug06/01/11 11:11:00 Leo Staples
   Re:Acton company selling lethal injection drug06/01/11 12:41:00 Chris Hurley
   Re:Acton company selling lethal injection drug06/01/11 14:03:00 Fred Bray
      Re:Re:Acton company selling lethal injection drug06/01/11 18:36:00 Chris Hurley
         Re:Re:Re:Acton company selling lethal injection drug06/01/11 20:36:00 Caroline Braithwaite
            Re:Re:Re:Re:Acton company selling lethal injection drug06/01/11 23:09:00 Sara Nathan
               Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Acton company selling lethal injection drug07/01/11 09:25:00 Dee Cook
                  Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Acton company selling lethal injection drug07/01/11 12:24:00 James Knights
                     Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Acton company selling lethal injection drug07/01/11 12:49:00 Sarah Harris
                        Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Acton company selling lethal injection drug07/01/11 13:41:00 Ellie Rose
                           Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Acton company selling lethal injection drug07/01/11 14:41:00 Sarah Harris
                              Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Acton company selling lethal injection drug07/01/11 15:28:00 Sara Nathan
                              Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Acton company selling lethal injection drug07/01/11 15:42:00 Dee Cook
                                 Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Acton company selling lethal injection drug07/01/11 16:22:00 Sarah Harris
                                    Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Acton company selling lethal injection drug07/01/11 18:44:00 Fred Bray
                                       Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Acton company selling lethal injection drug24/01/11 12:35:00 Sarah Harris
                                          Acton company selling lethal injection drug20/02/11 14:54:00 Kevin Regan
                                             Re:Acton company selling lethal injection drug02/03/11 00:55:00 John Pollastrini
                                                Re:Re:Acton company selling lethal injection drug03/03/11 09:37:00 Dee Cook
                                                   Re:Re:Re:Acton company selling lethal injection drug03/03/11 09:46:00 Sara Nathan
                                                      Odd coincidence03/03/11 12:00:00 Guy Fiegehen
                                                         Re:Odd coincidence03/03/11 12:57:00 Dee Cook
                                                            Acton company selling lethal injection drug -  News sources.03/03/11 14:56:00 Fred Bray
                                                               Re:Acton company selling lethal injection drug -  News sources.03/03/11 15:32:00 Sarah Harris
                                                            Re:Re:Odd coincidence03/03/11 19:24:00 Sara Nathan

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