The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is appealing a recent court ruling, preventing drugs facilitating the administration of the lethal injection to be imported into US prisons.
In US states where capital punishment is legal, anaesthetics like sodium thiopental have been commonly used as a precursor to administration of other chemicals which result in death.
The anaesthetic is imported to US prisons from the European Union, as it has not been producted in the US since 2009.
The European Union has recently implemented more strict rules surrounding the export of drugs facilitating capital punishment, which has made it more difficult for this penalty to be carried out in US prisons.
In March this year, 21 prisoners on death row argued a case against the importation of sodium thiopental without ensuring that it will work first. The US FDA is appealing the ruling under the pressure of the states where the death penalty is legal.
Critics of capital punishment suggest that the fatal injection won’t ever be replaced by the electric chair or hangings, as they are too public and will increase public opposition to capital punishment.
