Fresenius Kabi USA and West-Ward Pharmaceuticals Corp. were granted permission to file a friend of the court brief in a lawsuit by the inmates aimed at halting the unprecedented execution schedule, set to begin Monday with the lethal injection of two condemned killers. Fresenius Kabi said it appeared that it had manufactured the potassium chloride the state plans to use, while West-Ward had previously been identified by The Associated Press as the likely manufacturer of the state’s supply of midazolam.
“The use of the medicines in lethal injections runs counter to the manufacturers’ mission to save and enhance patients’ lives, and carries with it not only a public-health risk, but also reputational, fiscal and legal risks,” the companies said in a filing with the court.
Arkansas prison officials announced last month they had obtained a new supply of potassium chloride, clearing the way for the executions to begin. The executions are scheduled to occur before Arkansas’ supply of midazolam, a sedative used in flawed executions in other states, expires at the end of April.
A 2015 state law keeps the source of Arkansas’ three lethal injection drugs secret. The Department of Correction, Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s office and the attorney general’s office declined to comment on Thursday’s filing by the companies.
