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 DYNALABS, in St. Louis, Missouri, announced the new policy after
Reuters published an investigation on Friday that named some of the
companies involved in a secret supply chain to make and test a drug
ahead of the first federal executions in 17 years.
Two of the testing laboratories identified, including DYNALABS, told
Reuters they did not know the samples of the drug, pentobarbital,
belonged to the Justice Department, nor that it was intended for
executions.
DYNALABS says it will ask any pharmacy that sends it pentobarbital,
a barbiturate doctors use to treat seizures and other conditions, to
sign an attestation.
"It will be our policy going forward to require a statement from our
client indicating their preparation will not be used for execution,"
Michael Pruett and Russell Odegard, DYNALABS' co-founders, said in a
statement published on Friday on their website. "Clients that
decline to make that declaration will not be allowed to submit their
pentobarbital preparations to DYNALABS for testing."
The first federal executions since 2003 were due to take place this
week. But a federal judge ordered their delay while the condemned
men continue their legal challenge over the lethal-injection
protocol.
The Justice Department has cited test results showing that its
pentobarbital was potent and uncontaminated as it argued in court
that it was taking care not to breach a constitutional ban on "cruel
and unusual punishments."
The department has said it requires two independent testing labs to
check pentobarbital samples prior to an execution.
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The department has hired a so-called compounding pharmacy, which mixes tailored
drugs to order, to make the pentobarbital. The identity of the pharmacy and
other contractors has been kept secret by the department, which has argued that
companies are unwilling to help with executions unless their identities are
hidden.
Wyn Hornbuckle, a Justice Department spokesman, declined to comment on DYNALABS'
new policy.
Two other laboratories involved, ARL Bio Pharma Inc in Oklahoma City and Eagle
Analytical Services Inc in Houston, have also confirmed they had produced the
test results cited by the Justice Department in court filings, and that the work
had been commissioned by a compounding pharmacy.
ARL has said it was not aware at the time the drug was for use in lethal
injections while Eagle has declined to comment.
On Monday, ARL spokesman Brent Gooden and Eagle spokeswoman Amy Deatsman
declined to say whether or not their laboratories would continue testing drugs
intended for executions.
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Dan Grebler and Edwina Gibbs)
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