The scheduled execution of a man convicted of killing his parents
will proceed as planned Wednesday night, Texas authorities tell
FoxNews.com, despite a growing controversy over the drug being used to
carry out the punishment.
Last week, state prison officials refused a request from the
compounding pharmacy that created and sold Texas the pentobarbital -- a
single-dose drug used in executions -- to return the drug.
Jasper Lovoi, owner of The Woodlands Compounding Pharmacy, claims
Texas authorities put him “in the middle of a firestorm” of protesters,
hate calls and press requests after letting it leak that he sold eight
2.5-gram doses of pentobarbital to the state for upcoming executions.
Lovoi says he had been promised anonymity by the state.
But Jason Clark, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice, said the department bought the drug vials legally and won’t
return them.
Clark said the state has enough vials to carry out scheduled executions for the remainder of the year.
Death penalty states like Texas, which has executed 505 people since
1981, have been turning to compounding pharmacies to purchase lethal
doses of barbiturates used in executions.
The switch comes after the drugs’ primary makers shut off supplies to
states following pressure from anti-death penalty advocates.
Compounding pharmacies allow certified specialists to mix ingredients
for medicine themselves and sell them. For example, if there is only an
adult-dose of a particular drug available, compounding pharmacists can
manipulate the active ingredients and change the dosage or strength.
However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not vouch for the
validity, safety or effectiveness of drugs made in compounding
pharmacies.
Earlier this year, these new go-to drug dens came under scrutiny
following a deadly meningitis outbreak that was linked to contaminated
injections made at a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy.
In Texas, attorneys for Michael Yowell, 43, hope to get a last-minute
stay for their client. Yowell is scheduled to be put to death via
lethal injection at 6 p.m. central time (7 p.m. ET) at the state’s
execution chamber in Huntsville, Texas.
He was convicted of killing his parents, Johnny and Carol Yowell, in
1998 and setting fire to their home in Lubbock, Texas. According to
court records, Yowell told authorities he shot his father and then beat,
strangled and killed his mother. He then blew up the house.
Yowell’s grandmother, who lived with them, was killed though Yowell was not convicted in her death.
Yowell and two other death row inmates have filed a suit against the
state over the use of compounding pharmacies in capital punishment
cases. They argue that using untested drugs during an execution violates
a person’s constitutional right against cruel and unusual punishment.
"Use of compounded pentobarbital would constitute a significant
change in the lethal injection protocol, a change that adds an
unacceptable risk of pain, suffering and harm to the plaintiffs if and
when they are executed," the lawsuit says.
The suit also raises questions about the lack of regulation related
to compounding pharmacies which it says is “not subject to stringent FDA
regulations” and is “one of the leading sources for counterfeit drugs
entering the US.”
Last month, the House passed legislation aimed at regulating
compounding pharmacies. The bill, which is now in the Senate, would
create a national set of standards to track the distribution chain of
pharmaceuticals.
Proponents say the bill closes a pretty wide gap
between state and federal oversight of compounding pharmacies. In the
Massachusetts meningitis outbreak, 64 people died and more than 700
people got sick across 20 states from a bad batch of steroids produced
at the New England Compounding Center.
Other states like South Dakota and Georgia have had similar problems with purchasing drugs directly through manufacturers.
Georgia's first use of an execution drug obtained through a
compounding pharmacy was put on hold in July after the condemned inmate
challenged a new state law that bars the release of information about
where Georgia obtains its execution drug.
Separately, on Tuesday, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals
rejected a motion made by Yowell’s attorneys who asked to supervise
“every step of the execution process.”
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