Hospira Move to Drop Death-Penalty Drug May Disrupt Executions
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Hospira Inc. said it will no longer produce sodium thiopental, a drug used in death penalty cases, potentially delaying executions in the U.S.
The Lake Forest, Illinois-based company said in a statement it would discontinue manufacturing the anesthetic after Italian government authorities asked for a guarantee that the drug, slated to be produced for the first time at a plant in Italy this year, wouldn’t be used in executions. Hospira said it can’t control the ultimate end use of the medicine, marketed as Pentothal.