Twitter: @AP
State News
Execution-Drug Imports Blocked by Judge
A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the importation of a drug used in executions on grounds the Food and Drug Administration ignored the law in allowing it into this country.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon sided with lawyers for death row inmates in Tennessee, Arizona and California who want to keep out sodium thiopental, because it is an unapproved drug manufactured overseas. The Obama administration argued it had discretion to allow unapproved drugs into the U.S.
But Leon said the FDA's actions were "contrary to law, arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion." He said that plain language of the law says that an article that appears to be misbranded or unapproved "shall be refused admission."
Leon scolded the agency: "Put simply, this appears to be nothing more than the FDA, once again, stubbornly clinging to every last ounce of its discretionary authority!"
Sodium thiopental is an anesthetic used to put inmates to sleep before other lethal drugs are administered. The drug's U.S. manufacturer announced last year that it would no longer produce it, which forced corrections officials to delay many executions. Many of the nation's 34 death penalty states switched to an alternative drug, pentobarbital — a point Leon stressed.
In addition to blocking the FDA from allowing the drug into the country, Leon also ordered the FDA to immediately notify any state correctional departments with foreign-manufactured thiopental that its use is prohibited by law, and that the drug must be returned to the FDA.
A lawyer for the death row challengers, Brad Berenson, said in an email that "it was especially gratifying that the court recognized that even the most despised members of our society are entitled to the protections Congress gave to all Americans in the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act."
The FDA declined to comment on the ruling or say whether it planned to appeal.
Leon, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, dismissed the FDA's contention that the death row inmates lacked standing.
"Here, the threatened injury — that unapproved foreign thiopental will fail to anesthetize plaintiffs properly during execution, causing conscious suffocation, pain, and cardiac arrest — is, to say the least, severe," the judge wrote. "Indeed, few in our society are more vulnerable than a death row inmate facing lethal injection."
Leon also said that the FDA was undermining its own policy of maintaining a closed drug distribution system designed to keep dangerous drugs out of U.S. commerce.
"By opening up the 'closed' drug system by allowing an unapproved drug — thiopental — into the United States, defendants jeopardize their own system and threaten the public health by creating a risk that thiopental could incorrectly end up in the hands of the general public," he wrote.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
If you enjoyed this post, subscribe for updates.
- Most Viewed
-
- Report: U.S. Teacher Training System is Broken
- Washington State Prepares for Shutdown as Special Session Begins
- Some GOP Lawmakers Refuse to Answer Constituent Questions on Obamacare
- Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Oklahoma in Water War with Texas
- Nonprofits Draw States' Money, But Not Much Oversight
- Comments
-
- Supreme Court to Reexamine Church-State Separation at Government Meetings
"There is everything in the constituation that says laws may not be written such that your..." - Texas Enacts Unemployment Drug-Testing Law
"How about testing for alcohol too?
How about testing for smoking too? People on unemployment..." - Report: U.S. Teacher Training System is Broken
"The education establishment is an industry unto itself. Between insular teacher "training"..." - Maine Gov. LePage Vetoes Medicaid Expansion Bill
"It's frustrating when politicians (and demagogues)avoid explaining their rationale. So,..." - Bill to Keep Dead, Imprisoned People Off Welfare Becomes Michigan Law
"Snyder should also make sure to sign a law restricting dead people from getting driver's..."
- Supreme Court to Reexamine Church-State Separation at Government Meetings
Training Opportunities
Health Care Reform After the Decision- In this Mercer Report, you’ll learn how different organizations plan to tackle the new requirements of ACA and discover where most employer concerns are focused, who expects to be hardest hit, and how different health plans and Medicaid may impact overall costs.
- Crime Prediction and Prevention
- Accelerating Economic Growth and Vitality
GOVERNING Data
Events & Webinars
- High-Performance Government - Building "Better, Faster, Cheaper"
- June 20, 2013
- Nationally, six straight years of revenue declines have put enormous pressure on state and local governments, nevertheless, some are thriving. Standard & Poor's, the credit-rating agency, reports that it issued more bond upgrades than downgrades in 2012.
- Health Care Reform is Here: Are You Ready for the Rush?
- June 27, 2013
- The Medicaid expansion and the Affordable Care Act are in full swing. With the influx of people who will be applying for benefits and the ACA requirement for online enrollment, it is more important than ever to verify the identities of those accessing benefits up front.
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
YouTube
Flickr
RSS
© 2011 e.Republic, Inc. All Rights reserved. |