FDA Thwarts TDCJ Death Drug Shipment

The state's Department of Criminal Justice won't be receiving its July 2015 order of the lethal injection drug sodium thiopental anytime soon. Last Thursday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced its final decision to refuse foreign shipment of the drug into the country. The two government bodies have been battling ever since the FDA intercepted the drug at Hous­ton George Bush Intercontinental Airport that summer. The TDCJ ordered the drugs from an unknown supplier in India in hopes of replenishing its stock. Accessing any form of killer drug has become increasingly complicated for Huntsville ever since Pfizer blocked access of its drugs to executioners last May. In 2010, the Unit­ed King­dom banned export of sodium thiopental, and a year later Danish manufacturer Lund­beck prohibited sales to U.S. pharmacies. In a statement issued April 20, the FDA said the apprehended drugs seem to be "unapproved" and "misbranded," and should be exported or destroyed. The state filed suit against the federal agency to recover the drugs on Wednesday.