A Broken System

On 27th January, state legislator Brenda Council voluntarily withdrew her bill to abolish the death penalty in Nebraska in spite of encouraging bipartisan support. 

Why? Because Council wants to get to the bottom of the State’s murky purchase of sodium thiopental which “needs to be fully vetted as a part of this debate”.  Two death row inmates, Michael Ryan and Carey Dean Moore, say the purchase was illegal and the drugs should not be used in their executions.

Ryan, whose execution date is set for 6^th March, and Moore accuse the Nebraskan Department of Corrections of purchasing a large quantity of the drug from an unauthorized pharmaceutical middle man by the name of Chris Harris.  Harris was labelled a “drug peddler” by his former employer, Navneet Verma of Kayem Pharmaceuticals, when he sold a quantity of Kayem sodium thiopental to Nebraska and South Dakota departments of corrections last year. The latest drug purchase came from Swiss-Indian manufacturer, Naari. Naari’s CEO states that Harris was authorized to export the sodium thiopental to Zambia for testing purposes only, not to sell the product to the US. Unbeknownst to them, Harris approached Nebraskan corrections officials offering them supplies of Naari’s drugs at a huge mark-up for the purposes of executions. Harris has no pharmaceutical training or experience (outside the short, ill-fated spell at Kayem Pharmaceuticals). According to filings on behalf of Ryan and Moore, Harris has deliberately misled and deceived the Nebraska Department of Corrections on numerous occasions over the past year.

Nebraska was drawn into this scheme because, like most other death penalty states in the US, it can no longer purchase sodium thiopental which is no longer being manufactured domestically. Correctional departments have to go abroad and risk falling prey to unscrupulous dealers out to make a quick killing.  The fallout is not limited to the costly litigation brought against the state; Indian pharmaceutical companies are increasingly speaking out against the use of their products for any purpose other than the preservation of life and resent those who would deceive them.                  

Far from being a “frivolous and irrelevant” issue, as Nebraskan Attorney General, John Brunning, described the inmates’ challenge, the illicit sale of untested drugs for executions rides roughshod over the state’s claim to be accountable and the duty of care that it owes its citizens; even those about to lie on the gurney.