Some US executions held up by shortage of drug

[September 28, 2010]  COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Some executions in the U.S. have been put on hold because of a shortage of one of the drugs used in lethal injections from coast to coast.

Several of the 35 states that rely on lethal injection are scrambling to find sodium thiopental or considering switching to another drug.

Sodium thiopental is an anesthetic that is used to put the condemned inmate to sleep. Then two more drugs are admininistered to paralyze the muscles and stop the heart.

The sole U.S. manufacturer of sodium thiopental is Hospira Inc. of Lake Forest, Ill. It has blamed the shortage on problems with its raw-material suppliers. It says new batches will not be available until January at the earliest.

The shortage delayed an Oklahoma execution last month and led Kentucky's governor to postpone the signing of death warrants for two inmates.

[Associated Press; By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS]

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