Execution costs spike in Virginia; state pays pharmacy $66K
Source: Associated Press
Dec 12, 12:53 PM EST
Execution costs spike in Virginia; state pays pharmacy $66K
By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER
Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Virginia prison officials have paid a secret compounding pharmacy $66,000 to obtain lethal injection drugs for its next two executions - roughly 63 times last year's going price for the state's three-drug lethal injection package.
Like other states, Virginia has struggled to obtain these drugs as pharmaceutical companies block their sale for executions to avoid being publicly accused of violating medical ethics. But under a new law, the state can have the drugs made at a compounding pharmacy and shield its identity from the public.
Virginia's lethal injection protocol calls for the use of a sedative - pentobarbital or midazolam - followed by rocuronium bromide to halt breathing, and potassium chloride to stop the heart.
The Virginia Department of Corrections has paid this pharmacy $66,000 since September for vials of midazolam and potassium chloride, according to receipts provided to The Associated Press through a Freedom of Information Act request after the pharmacy's identifying information was redacted.
Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_EXECUTION_DRUGS_VIRGINIA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-12-12-12-53-41
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