Import of Death Penalty Drug Blocked by Federal Judge
U.S. authorities were banned from importing a drug used to carry out death sentences, in a decision by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., Tuesday. Leon said the Food and Drug Administration never approved the drug for use in the U.S., and he ordered supplies be confiscated. A group of death row inmates had sued last year to block the import or use of the drug, sodium thiopental.
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The FDA had argued it was using its discretion by allowing the shipments into the country and also that it deferred to law enforcement with respect to the drugs used for executions. "The FDA appears to be simply wrapping itself in the flag of law enforcement discretion to justify its authority and masquerade an otherwise seemingly callous indifference to the health consequences of those imminently facing the executioner's needle,” Leon wrote in his opinion.
Leon ordered the FDA to notify all state correctional departments with thiopental made overseas that they are not allowed to use it and that they must return their supplies to the agency immediately.