The news that the US state of Utah has had to revert to the use of firing squads as a means of execution because it has no reserves of legal injection drugs can hardly be regarded as a progressive step. But it is an issue that will confront many, if not all, of the 32 US states that still have the death penalty.
Texas, which has carried out more than 500 executions since 1976, is said to be down to its final dose of lethal injection drugs with several more executions pending in the coming weeks.
The nationwide shortage of the three preferred drugs – pentobarbital to anaesthetise, pancuronium bromide to paralyse, and potassium chloride to induce heart failure – began when the EU banned exports of chemicals that might be used in lethal injections and pharmaceutical manufacturers wanted to disassociate themselves from the death penalty.
And the dwindling stocks are likely to become shorter still now that the International Academy for Compounding Pharmacists is urging its members to stop assisting executions due to growing concern among some compound pharmacists that some states may decide to alter regulations in ways that would cause pharmacists to face legal problems.
A series of highly publicised botched executions using alternative drugs has led to proceedings in which the Supreme Court will hear legal arguments on behalf of death row prisoners contending that the use of untested chemical substitutes amounts to biological experimentation on unwilling human captives.
The power of the media, public opinion and investors has been sufficient to cause the supply to dry up but is unlikely to be enough to change the view of the 32 states regarding the death penalty itself.
Ironically, by taking a stand against lethal injections, the pharmaceutical industry has defended its ethical principles, but at the cost of subjecting some prisoners to arguably an even less humane end to their lives.
