Arkansas got execution drug made by resistant manufacturer
Source: Associated Press
Kelly P. Kissel and Andrew Demillo, Associated Press
Updated 6:46 pm, Wednesday, November 8, 2017
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — One of the three drugs Arkansas planned to use in a lethal injection this week was made by a New York company that says it doesn't sell its products if it fears they'll be used in executions, court documents released Wednesday show.
A package insert and drug label for the state's supply of midazolam released by the state in Pulaski County Circuit Court identifies Athenex as the maker of the drug, one of three used in Arkansas' lethal injection process. The insert was included as part of an affidavit filed by state Correction Department officials.
The affidavit was filed the day after Pulaski County Circuit Judge Mackie Pierce ordered the Department of Correction to release a copy of the insert to Steven Shults, an attorney who had sued the state for the document. The Arkansas Supreme Court last week ruled that a state law keeping the source of Arkansas' execution drugs secret applied to suppliers and sellers, but not drug manufacturers. Pierce ruled Wednesday that other information on the drug label that could be used to identify the drug's seller can be withheld.
An Athenex spokesman, Jim Polson, said that however the state acquired its drug, it would have violated Athenex's agreements with distributors barring the use of its products in executions. The company said in a statement posted on its website Wednesday that it does not accept orders from prisons if it believes the products will be used for lethal injections and "does not want any of our products used in capital punishment."
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/New-York-company-ID-d-as-maker-of-Arkansas-12341316.php
