In Houston, Texas prison officials are taking a review regarding the efforts of federal agency to ban the import of a drug that can be used to execute prisoners.
According to Yahoo, the US Food and Drug administration won't back down to its decision in blocking Texas prison system to import a drug that can be used to practice capital punishment, most likely, executions in the nation. The decision by FDA comes after the Texas Department of Criminal Justice was appealing for their import of sodium thiopental shipment from an outside country. The drug is known to have no legal merits of use in the US.
On Wednesday, Texas prison department spokesman Jason Clark said the prison administration is now reviewing the move of the FDA, saying it is still a tentative one. He said "the prison system is exploring its options moving forward regarding the lawful importation of drugs used in the lethal injections."
Fox News reported that FDA spokesperson Christopher Kelly said the action "remains an ongoing proceeding and the agency has no further comment." Texas have been notably using sedative pentobarbital executions since 2012 and Clark added that the state has enough of that drug to carry out punishments now scheduled.
ABC News published that Texas prison officials declined to give further information regarding their ordered drugs. They're under a state law that provides them protection on withholding information regarding the drug providers. Sodium thiopental was previously part of the three-drug mixture Texas used in prisons. Clark said the department has no intentions of changing the current practice of using pentobarbital for executions.
Court filings in death penalty described Texas prison agency's pentobarbital drug supplier as a licensed compounding pharmacy. Texas' 13 lethal injections last year accounted for half of the 28 executions done nationwide. This year, of the 12 conducted in US, 6 are from Texas alone.
