Pfizer says it's blocking use of drugs for lethal injections

[rooster59]

Pfizer says it's blocking use of drugs for lethal injections

ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS, Associated Press


Pharmaceutical company Pfizer said Friday it was blocking use of its drugs in lethal injections, which means all federally-approved drugmakers whose medications could be used for executions have now put them off limits.

"Pfizer makes its products to enhance and save the lives of the patients we serve. Consistent with these values, Pfizer strongly objects to the use of its products as lethal injections for capital punishment," the company said in the statement made public on its website Friday.

The company's announcement has limited immediate impact. Its action is an enhancement of a previous policy that follows Pfizer's $15.23 billion purchase of Lake Forest, Illinois-based Hospira Inc. last year. Hospira had previously prohibited the use of its drugs in capital punishment, as have several other drugmakers.

Pfizer shares closed even Friday at $33.19.

The development means the approximately 25 FDA-approved companies worldwide able to manufacture drugs used in executions have now blocked the use of the drugs, according to Reprieve, a New York-based human rights organization opposed to the death penalty.

"Pfizer's actions cement the pharmaceutical industry's opposition to the misuse of medicines," Maya Foia, Reprieve director, said in a statement.

Pfizer's announcement was unlikely to have much effect on executions, which have slowed in recent years as drugmakers' prohibition on the drugs took effect.

However, as recently as last year, records showed that labels of Arkansas execution drugs appeared to indicate that the state's potassium chloride, which stops the heart, was made by Hospira. Pfizer spokeswoman Rachel Hooper said the company couldn't speculate on the impact of its decision.

Ohio, which last executed an inmate in January 2014, has repeatedly pushed back executions while it looks for drugs. It now has more than two dozen inmates with firm execution dates, but no drugs to put prisoners to death with.

Some remaining death penalty states have been using compounded versions of drugs that fall outside of FDA approval.

Texas, with the country's busiest death chamber, obtains its pentobarbital for lethal injections from a supplier the state identifies only as a licensed compounding pharmacy. A law that took effect last year keeps the identity of the drug provider confidential. The state has carried out six executions so far in 2016. At least eight are scheduled for the coming months, including two in June.

Texas is fighting a lawsuit trying to force it to identify drugmakers from April 2014, when attorneys unsuccessfully filed appeals to stop two executions by seeking the identity of the drug providers, and September 2015, when the state's secrecy law took effect.

Similar lawsuits about whether states must identify their providers have been argued in states including Georgia, Arkansas and Missouri.

There have been 14 executions in the U.S. so far in 2016 in five states: six in Texas, five in Georgia and one each in Alabama, Florida and Missouri. Last year, there were 28 in six states.

Some states have passed laws allowing older methods of execution if needed. Last year, Utah approved the use of firing squads for executions if drugs aren't available, while Oklahoma became the first state to approve nitrogen gas for executions if lethal injection drugs become unavailable or are deemed unconstitutional.

In 2014, Tennessee passed a law allowing the use of the electric chair if lethal drugs can't be found. Virginia is debating a similar bill.

The seven drugs affected by Pfizer's policy: pancuronium bromide, potassium chloride, propofol, midazolam, hydromorphone, rocuronium bromide and vecuronium bromide.

-- (c) Associated Press 2016-05-14

[stander]

No problem, there's the electric chair, gas chambers, hanging and the firing squad.

[phantomfiddler]

Amazing how a panel of supposed experts cannot seem to solve a simple problem ! A few minutes of nitrogen should do the job, or check out the drunken indian on top of the train ! The chinese don,t seem to have a problem here, so why do we ? It,s not the death penalty that I am against, it,s the waste of millions upon millions of dollars spent incarcerating the death row inmates, money that could be put to much better use !

[Grouse]

Awful people

The civilised world abandoned these barbaric practices decades ago AND has lower crime and recidivism rates.

[Asiantravel]

Awful people

The civilised world abandoned these barbaric practices decades ago AND has lower crime and recidivism rates.

all very well and good if they are put to work and they are earning their keep

[Asiantravel]

Amazing how a panel of supposed experts cannot seem to solve a simple problem ! A few minutes of nitrogen should do the job, or check out the drunken indian on top of the train ! The chinese don,t seem to have a problem here, so why do we ? It,s not the death penalty that I am against, it,s the waste of millions upon millions of dollars spent incarcerating the death row inmates, money that could be put to much better use !

If you take an old sick dog to be put down by the vet they are given a dose of pentobarbital (sometimes known as nembutal ) and they die painlessly and peacefully.

I don't see why they can't use this substance for human beings no matter what heinous crimes they may have committed instead of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride which can lead to a shocking results.

[uptheos]

Whoever it is should have a humane execution, though no execution can be stress free during the setting up,i.e. strapping to the table, inserting the IV etc. It would be about the same as strapping someone in a chair and placing a plastic bag over their head, connected to pure helium or nitrogen. When the valve is opened consciousness will be lost within 5 seconds and death will occur after about 30 minutes. From what I've read it appears to be absolutely painless and 100% effective.

[willyumiii]

So, now the U.S. Government needs to go to Canada to get their prescriptions filled, just like so many American citizens need to do?

[Grouse]

Amazing how a panel of supposed experts cannot seem to solve a simple problem ! A few minutes of nitrogen should do the job, or check out the drunken indian on top of the train ! The chinese don,t seem to have a problem here, so why do we ? It,s not the death penalty that I am against, it,s the waste of millions upon millions of dollars spent incarcerating the death row inmates, money that could be put to much better use !

If you take an old sick dog to be put down by the vet they are given a dose of pentobarbital (sometimes known as nembutal ) and they die painlessly and peacefully.

I don't see why they can't use this substance for human beings no matter what heinous crimes they may have committed instead of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride which can lead to a shocking results.

You really don't get it do you?

Judicial killing just brutalises society general and has no beneficial effect on crime rates or recidivism

You like killing people for the revenge aspect

Civilised countries no longer do this.

Astonishing that Texans are more interested in which toilet someone uses than how many people they kill. How sick is that? Wonder if they get a choice of toilet in the killing room?

Edited May 14, 2016 by Grouse

[Skeptic7]

This seems ridiculous. PFE should have better things to concern themselves with...like building shareholder value and improving their underperforming stock price. Will be casting my vote by selling my PFE shares...

[ChoakMyDee]

Amazing how a panel of supposed experts cannot seem to solve a simple problem ! A few minutes of nitrogen should do the job, or check out the drunken indian on top of the train ! The chinese don,t seem to have a problem here, so why do we ? It,s not the death penalty that I am against, it,s the waste of millions upon millions of dollars spent incarcerating the death row inmates, money that could be put to much better use !

If you take an old sick dog to be put down by the vet they are given a dose of pentobarbital (sometimes known as nembutal ) and they die painlessly and peacefully.

I don't see why they can't use this substance for human beings no matter what heinous crimes they may have committed instead of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride which can lead to a shocking results.

You really don't get it do you?

Judicial killing just brutalises society general and has no beneficial effect on crime rates or recidivism

You like killing people for the revenge aspect

Civilised countries no longer do this.

Astonishing that Texans are more interested in which toilet someone uses than how many people they kill. How sick is that? Wonder if they get a choice of toilet in the killing room?

It's not about revenge, it's about justice.

[stevenl]

This seems ridiculous. PFE should have better things to concern themselves with...like building shareholder value and improving their underperforming stock price. Will be casting my vote by selling my PFE shares...

Which is exactly what they're doing.

[AgMech Cowboy]

Grouse: Us Texans couldn't care which toilet the 'Toys' want to use. Don't associate all of us with Lying Ted. There is no law to make the 'Toys' go to the men's room in Texas. Truth be known, I've guard the men's room door while the women used it because the line at their toilet was too long. Wouldn't you?

[Grouse]

Grouse: Us Texans couldn't care which toilet the 'Toys' want to use. Don't associate all of us with Lying Ted. There is no law to make the 'Toys' go to the men's room in Texas. Truth be known, I've guard the men's room door while the women used it because the line at their toilet was too long. Wouldn't you?

Correct!

But big issue on News today concerning Texas specifically.

BTW I had great times living in Austin! Great place!

[canuckamuck]

Hypoxia is a very pleasant way to go and it isn't hard to arrange. No chemicals to buy either.

[canuckamuck]

Hypoxia is a very pleasant way to go and it isn't hard to arrange. No chemicals to buy either.

Well thanks for that! I feel better now!

What did you have for tea today?

Bleeding hearts.

[Mosha]

Amazing how a panel of supposed experts cannot seem to solve a simple problem ! A few minutes of nitrogen should do the job, or check out the drunken indian on top of the train ! The chinese don,t seem to have a problem here, so why do we ? It,s not the death penalty that I am against, it,s the waste of millions upon millions of dollars spent incarcerating the death row inmates, money that could be put to much better use !

If you take an old sick dog to be put down by the vet they are given a dose of pentobarbital (sometimes known as nembutal ) and they die painlessly and peacefully.
I don't see why they can't use this substance for human beings no matter what heinous crimes they may have committed instead of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride which can lead to a shocking results.

You really don't get it do you?

Judicial killing just brutalises society general and has no beneficial effect on crime rates or recidivism

You like killing people for the revenge aspect

Civilised countries no longer do this.

Astonishing that Texans are more interested in which toilet someone uses than how many people they kill. How sick is that? Wonder if they get a choice of toilet in the killing room?

It's not about revenge, it's about justice.

And who are you? God?

Nah it's revenge

What's the difference. Life should mean just that, but it doesn't.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

[ThailandLOS]

They just wanna keep them alive in order to extend their market for useless Big Pharma drugs.

Don't believe in any ethical motivation for Pfizer & Co for one second.

[Scott]

Off-topic posts and replies removed.

[GanDoonToonPet]

Hypoxia is a very pleasant way to go and it isn't hard to arrange. No chemicals to buy either.

Agreed. I'm against the death penalty but if it has to be carried out then it should be done humanely. Nitrogen is the way to go & they even kill male chicks the same way.

[Michael8511]

Here we are talking about justice the way we see it, and scream on top of the lungs when other countries are using there believed methods for corporal punishment. It's amazing that all these expats thinks that USA is above all other countries and believe. I'm against all these methods regardless if it's executed in the Muslim or Western world, but to think that when it's done in US it's justice and when done in Middle East it's criminal is just absurd.

[Grouse]

Amazing how a panel of supposed experts cannot seem to solve a simple problem ! A few minutes of nitrogen should do the job, or check out the drunken indian on top of the train ! The chinese don,t seem to have a problem here, so why do we ? It,s not the death penalty that I am against, it,s the waste of millions upon millions of dollars spent incarcerating the death row inmates, money that could be put to much better use !

If you take an old sick dog to be put down by the vet they are given a dose of pentobarbital (sometimes known as nembutal ) and they die painlessly and peacefully.
I don't see why they can't use this substance for human beings no matter what heinous crimes they may have committed instead of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride which can lead to a shocking results.

You really don't get it do you?

Judicial killing just brutalises society general and has no beneficial effect on crime rates or recidivism

You like killing people for the revenge aspect

Civilised countries no longer do this.

Astonishing that Texans are more interested in which toilet someone uses than how many people they kill. How sick is that? Wonder if they get a choice of toilet in the killing room?

It's not about revenge, it's about justice.

And who are you? God?

Nah it's revenge

What's the difference. Life should mean just that, but it doesn't.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

Are you a Muslim? Isn't an eye for eye just a bit medieval?

[Johpa]

Pfizer makes its products to enhance and save the lives of the patients we serve. Consistent with these values, Pfizer strongly objects to the use of its products as lethal injections for capital punishment," the company said in the statement made public on its website Friday.

What a load of crap. Pfizer is only thinking of its legal liabilities if something were to go wrong. The only value Pfizer has is to make a tidy profit.

From Harper's Magazine via the Wikipedia article on Pfizer CEO Ian Read: "By October 2015 during the Drug Pricing Firestorm, Forbes journalist Matthew Herper, wrote how "Read, with his calculating mind, must get through the publics rage over six-figure price tags for breakthrough drugs and yet keep Pfizers pricing power more or less intact. Doing so is absolutely critical: 34% of Pfizers revenue growth over the past three years has come from increasing prices on existing drugs, according to SSR, a Stamford, Conn.-based consulting firm. New medicines, especially for cancer, are selling for $100,000-plusprices that were unimaginable five years ago."

[geriatrickid]

Amazing how a panel of supposed experts cannot seem to solve a simple problem ! A few minutes of nitrogen should do the job, or check out the drunken indian on top of the train ! The chinese don,t seem to have a problem here, so why do we ? It,s not the death penalty that I am against, it,s the waste of millions upon millions of dollars spent incarcerating the death row inmates, money that could be put to much better use !

And what of all those people wrongly convicted?

You know what would be nice? If there was a civil guarantee that said that if people were in favour of executing someone, that in the event of a wrongful killing, those people would forfeit their lives. Would you accept your own execution if one of these people you want killed was wrongfully executed?

[Mosha]

Amazing how a panel of supposed experts cannot seem to solve a simple problem ! A few minutes of nitrogen should do the job, or check out the drunken indian on top of the train ! The chinese don,t seem to have a problem here, so why do we ? It,s not the death penalty that I am against, it,s the waste of millions upon millions of dollars spent incarcerating the death row inmates, money that could be put to much better use !

If you take an old sick dog to be put down by the vet they are given a dose of pentobarbital (sometimes known as nembutal ) and they die painlessly and peacefully.
I don't see why they can't use this substance for human beings no matter what heinous crimes they may have committed instead of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride which can lead to a shocking results.

You really don't get it do you?

Judicial killing just brutalises society general and has no beneficial effect on crime rates or recidivism

You like killing people for the revenge aspect

Civilised countries no longer do this.

Astonishing that Texans are more interested in which toilet someone uses than how many people they kill. How sick is that? Wonder if they get a choice of toilet in the killing room?

It's not about revenge, it's about justice.

And who are you? God?

Nah it's revenge

What's the difference. Life should mean just that, but it doesn't.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

Are you a Muslim? Isn't an eye for eye just a bit medieval?

No and no.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

[Thaidream]

The death penalty should be abolished everywhere in the World. It is barbaric and does nothing to stop crime.

As for Pfizer- they could care less about human life. If they did care- they would reduce the price of their drugs so people everywhere could afford them. Medical care is a human right and no one should be making a profit off another person's pain. Drug companies are leaches sucking the lifeblood from the human race.

[willyumiii]

The death penalty should be abolished everywhere in the World. It is barbaric and does nothing to stop crime.

As for Pfizer- they could care less about human life. If they did care- they would reduce the price of their drugs so people everywhere could afford them. Medical care is a human right and no one should be making a profit off another person's pain. Drug companies are leaches sucking the lifeblood from the human race.

You, my friend have hit the nail on the head.

American pharma companies are in business for profit only.

Life saving and life maintaining drugs the sell to Americans can be purchased for a small fraction of the price they charge Americans in other countries.

Their lobbyist pay our lawmakers to protect their high profits.

Many Americans can not afford to purchase the drugs their doctors prescribe...or decide to reduce their dosage to save money..

Many Americans go bankrupt trying to pay their medical expenses.

Just like lawyers, drug companies make a fortune taking advantage of other people's misfortunes.

They are the vultures of society.

Edited May 15, 2016 by willyumiii

[NumbNut]

Amazing how a panel of supposed experts cannot seem to solve a simple problem ! A few minutes of nitrogen should do the job, or check out the drunken indian on top of the train ! The chinese don,t seem to have a problem here, so why do we ? It,s not the death penalty that I am against, it,s the waste of millions upon millions of dollars spent incarcerating the death row inmates, money that could be put to much better use !

And what of all those people wrongly convicted?

You know what would be nice? If there was a civil guarantee that said that if people were in favour of executing someone, that in the event of a wrongful killing, those people would forfeit their lives. Would you accept your own execution if one of these people you want killed was wrongfully executed?

Exactly. Too many innocent people have been wrongly convicted and in some cases executed due to flawed and/or biased judicial processes.

How this can still be happening in the 21st century in a first world country just beggars belief.

[up2u2]

State sanctioned murder is one of America's greatest shame.

Absolutely barbaric and backward.

I doubt whether Pfizer's decision was based on 'values' more to do with a contract of sale between Hospira to get the deal done.

How bizarre that a Corporation has to impose values and principles on America because they are incapable of doing it themselves.

[jesimps]

How about Pfizer come up with something to cure the creeping cancer of leftism.