2010
22nd September: Prison authorities in Arizona and California begin exchanging emails about the possibility of the latter procuring execution drugs from the former.
27th September: Brandon Rhode is executed in Georgia using British sodium thiopental, a week after attempting suicide.
28th September: Dream Pharma, a company based in Acton, West London, invoices authorities in Arizona for supplies of all three lethal injection drugs.
30th September: Authorities in Tennessee correspond with an as-yet-unknown supplier about purchasing sodium thiopental.
26th October: The Ninth Circuit US Court of Appeals upholds an Arizona district court order granting a temporary stay of execution for Jeffrey Landrigan. An application to the Supreme Court to vacate the order is subsequently granted, and Landrigan is executed at 10.26pm local time.
27th October: Arizona changes its tactics and buys execution drugs from the U.K. following a nationwide shortage of the drug sodium thiopental
28th October: Reprieve and Leigh Day write to Business Secretary Vince Cable asking him to place an export ban on sodium thiopental by 5pm the next day, in an attempt to prevent Ed Zagorski being executed by the state of Tennessee using drugs from Britain.
1st November: Ian Bond, a political counsellor at the British Embassy in Washington, writes to the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs at the US Department of State expressing deep concern about the use of British sodium thiopental in executions. In London, Business Secretary Vince Cable replies to Reprieve’s letter of 28th October and refuses to impose the requested controls on sodium thiopental. Reprieve and Leigh Day respond with a letter before action, notifying him of their intention to judicially review his failure to ban the export of the drug.
2nd November: An application for judicial review is submitted on behalf of Ed Zagorski, and granted the same day.
4th November: Reprieve writes to the Austrian Finance Minister, the Austrian Justice Minister and the Austrian Minister for European Affairs asking them to ban the export of sodium thiopental from Austria and take other steps to ensure European drugs are not used in executions in the US.
5th November: Reprieve writes to the Division Head of Sandoz International, the Austrian pharmaceutical company thought to have manufactured the sodium thiopental that killed Jeffrey Landrigan. Leigh Day writes to the UK government, warning that the Tennessee authorities are now in possession of sufficient sodium thiopental to kill Ed Zagorski, and giving notification of their intention to add a second claimant: Ralph Baze.
8th November: Clive Stafford Smith submits his witness statement, in which he argues that the source of the drugs used in lethal injections is crucial to the constitutionality or otherwise of executions. Paul Bottei, Assistant Federal Public Defender of Tennessee and Counsel for Ed Zagorski, submits his second witness statement, in which he describes the response of the Tennessee authorities to his office's public records request concerning the state's supplies of sodium thiopental.
9th November: Christina Ackermann, General Counsel of Sandoz, replies to Reprieve's letter to say she is assessing the situation and will respond shortly. Steven Shafer, Professor of Anaesthesiology at Columbia University, submits his witness statement. Maya Foa submits her witness statement, containing background information on the use, manufacture and distribution of sodium thiopental. Leigh Day submits an application to join Ralph Baze as co-claimant.
12th November: Archimedes Pharma submit a witness statement in which it states that the company does not oppose the claimants' application for judicial review.
15th November: Paul Bottei submits his third witness statement, rebutting claims by the Secretary of State that export controls on sodium thiopental would be unduly onerous for exporters or insufficiently capable of enforcement.
16th November: Counsel for Ed Zagorski and Ralph Baze submit skeleton arguments, challenging the Business Secretary's refusal to impose an export ban on sodium thiopental.
17th November: Exhibit MF3, a compilation of information about the availability and cost of sodium thiopental, is submitted.
18th November: Dr Ravpreet Singh Gill, Assistant Professor of Anaesthesiology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, submits his witness statement, in which he explains that sodium thiopental is used in a medical context primarily for caesarian sections, but is not the only drug that can serve this purpose. Adam Rossiter of the Treasury Solicitor's Department submits his witness statement detailing how and why he made contact with Dr Gill.
19th November: Tom Smith submits his third witness statement, clarifying the current position of the FDA with regards to sodium thiopental. Counsel for Vince Cable submit their skeleton argument, arguing that an export ban on sodium thiopental would not prevent the US from acquiring the drug from other countries.
22nd November: Exhibit MC1 submitted, including information about uses of sodium thiopental. Exhibit TS3 submitted, including FDA guidance and emails exchanged between Tom Smith at the Department for Business Innovation and Skills and Murray Lumpkin at the FDA.
29th November: The British government announces that it will impose a ban on the export of sodium thiopental to the United States.
2nd December: Reprieve holds a press conference in Italy after Hospira announces that it intends to move thiopental production to its factory in Liscate.Paul Bottei writes to Clive Stafford Smith reporting that his office has examined the execution drugs procured by Tennessee. Reprieve forwards this correspondence to Ambassador Tichy at the Austrian government, along with a letter reiterating the need for an export ban on sodium thiopental.
7th December: Reprieve writes to Business Secretary Vince Cable warning that authorities in California have ordered enough sodium thiopental to execute 85 people from Reading-based Archimedes Pharma, and that the shipment is currently with the Food and Drug Administration.
8th December: Ohio carries out the first execution in the US to use a one-drug lethal injection protocol. Kenneth Biros is put to death using a single large dose of sodium thiopental because of concerns that ineffective thiopental could render the three-drug protocol 'cruel and unusual punishment'.
16th December: Reprieve writes to Business Secretary Vince Cable to inform him that, in addition to sodium thiopental, the other two drugs used in the lethal injection cocktail (potassium chloride and pancuronium bromide) have also been imported from Britain by executing states. In Oklahoma, John Duty is executed using pentobarbital instead of sodium thiopental - the first US prisoner to be executed using this method.
24th December: Law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges, instructed by Reprieve, writes to Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the EU, urging him to impost export controls on execution drugs.
29th December: Reprieve writes to Business Secretary Vince Cable informing him that Acton-based Dream Pharma directly supplied the drugs used to kill Jeffrey Landrigan in Arizona, and writes to Dream Pharma directly asking for help in mitigating the damage done by exporting the chemicals.
2011
4th January: The FDA releases a statement saying that it does not review or approve substances used for execution purposes.
6th January: Reprieve exposes Dream Pharma in the British press as the British supplier of lethal injection drugs.
21st January: Hospira announces that it is ceasing all production of sodium thiopental worldwide.
26th January: Georgia executes Emanuel Hammond using British sodium thiopental. It appears that the drug does not work properly, meaning that Emanuel is not properly anaesthetised and dies an excruciating death.
15th February: Reprieve holds a press conference and evidentiary hearing at Parliament on what British legislators and regulators can do to prevent the export from the UK of execution drugs.
20th February: It becomes apparent that the British sodioum thiopental probably also failed in Jeffrey Landrigan's execution.
10th March: Ohio carries out the first pentobarbital-only execution, putting Johnnie Baston to death with a single large dose of the sedative.
16th March: The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) seizes Georgia's supply of sodium thiopental amid claims that its importation from Britain was illegal. Texas changes its lethal injection protocol and replaces sodium thiopental with pentobarbital.
24th March: Mississippi announces that it will "most likely" be using pentobarbital in upcoming executions.
25th March: Lundbeck announces that it will continue to supply pentobarbital for lethal injections and will not put in place 'end-user agreeements' preventing their products from being used to kill.
28th March: Arizona announces that it is swtiching its lethal injection protocol, replacing sodium thiopental with pentobarbital.
29th March: Arizona executes Eric John King whilst questions are cast about his guilt with 'substantial doubts' being raised by his lawyers
5th April: House of Commons Committee report criticises UK Department for Business for not acting quickly enough in 2010 to block sodium thiopental exports for US lethal injections.
5th April: Kayem Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd supply United States with execution drug
12th April: Ohio executes Clarence Carter using pentobarbital made by Lundbeck.
13th April: Georgia reportedly considering switch to pentobarbital for executions.
14th April: UK Department for Business announces plans to put export controls on a further three drugs used in US executions.
3rd May: Cary Kerr becomes the first Texan to be executed using Lundbeck pentobarbital.
6th May: Lundbeck pentobarbital used for the first time in South Carolina to kill Jeffrey Motts - in what is also the first execution in the state for two years.
12th May: Lundbeck refuses to submit testimony to a US court opposing the use of their drugs in executions.
13th May: A major investor sells millions of euros' worth of shares in Lundbeck due to concerns about its use of drugs in US executions.
18th May: Questions raised by US lawyers over the competence of sodium thiopental supplier Kayem Pharma, based on a series of emails.
19th May: Alabama uses pentobarbital for the first time to execute Jason Oric Williams.
25th May: Nebraska Supreme Court issues stay of execution for Carey Dean Moore while judge considers a motion filed challenging one of the three lethal injection drugs which was purchased from Kayem Pharmaceutical Pvt. Ltd
6th June: Lundbeck agrees to reconsider its position and look at steps to restrict the flow of their pentobarbital to US death rows, following a meeting with Reprieve.
8th June: Germany's Trade Minister says he has refused a request from the US Commerce Secretary to provide them with sodium thiopental for use in executions.
16th June: Executions using Lundbeck pentobarbital continue, with Eddie Powell III (Alabama) and Lee Andrew Taylor (Texas) bringing the total bodycount to 15.
21st June: Texas set to execute Milton Mathis, Lundbeck's 16th victim, despite his being assessed as 'intellectually disabled'.
24th June: Georgia's first execution using pentobarbital raises yet more questions about the drug, as Roy Willard Blankenship jerks and thrashes during the process, and his eyes remain open throughout.
28th June: Reports emerge that Eddie Powell, executed on 16th June, appears (like Roy Blankenship) to have suffered during a botched execution using pentobarbital.
30th June: A Harvard medical professor testifies that, during Georgia's first execution using pentobarbital, Roy Blankenship 'suffered greatly'.
1st July: Lundbeck announces plan to block supply of pentobarbital to US execution chambers.
9th July: As supplies of pentobarbital run low, Bloomberg reveals the increasing cost of executions, with states paying as much as ten times more for lethal injection drugs than in previous years.
11th July: The EU High Representative Baroness Ashton moves to review and amend the EU law concerning trade goods, which would block the export of lethal injection drugs.
19th July: Superior Court Judge Bensonetta Tipton Lane of Fulton County, orders the videotaping of Andrew Grant DeYoung's execution amidst claims pentobarbital is unsafe for executions.
20th July: Texas executes Mark Ströman with Lundbeck pentobarbital despite an international campaign led by his surviving victim in the months and hours leading up to the execution to save his life.
21st July: Andrew Grant DeYoung is executed. The videotape is kept under seal to be used as evidence in the case of Gregory Walker.
23rd July: Arkansas becomes the latest state to surrender its supply of Dream Pharma lethal injection drugs.
26th July: Florida Supreme Court stays the execution of Manuel Valle, previously scheduled for 2nd August over concerns about the use of pentobarbital and it's potential to cause unecessary pain.
28th July: Delaware State Supreme Court denies a stay of execution for Robert W. Jackson III over botched execution concerns. Virginia and Florida prepare to adopt untested pentobarbital due to domestic shortages of sodium thiopental.
29th July: Robert W. Jackson III is executed at 12:02am in Delaware's first execution using pentobarbital.
2nd August: The US Supreme Court refuses a request from the state of Florida to lift a stay of execution for Manuel Valle ahead of a ruling to decide whether the use of pentobarbital breaks state and federal bans on cruel and unusual punishment.
8th August: Judge Jacqueline Hogan Scola of Florida rejects an appeal against the use of pentobarbital in the case of Manuel Valle after disagreeing with a Harvard anaesthesiologist that, for the purposes of anaesthesia, “almost nothing” is known about pentobarbital, and that should the drug fail to work, prisoners would suffer “incredibly burning pain” from the subsequent injection of a heart-stopping drug.
15th August: Montana switches its execution protocol, stating that the new drug, pentobarbital, is 'not experimental'.
19th August: Virginia executes Jerry Jackson, 30 with Lundbeck pentobarbital.
23rd August: Manuel Valle's stay is lifted and he becomes set to be the first person in Florida executed with pentobarbital. Florida Bishops and the DC-based Inter-American Comission on Human Rights urge Florida to halt Valle's execution.
25th August: Governor Rick Scott schedules Manuel Valle's execution for 6th September. Details of the execution proceedure here. The appeal process continues, and another stay is granted while his lack of a clemency procedure is under review.
21st September: The state of Texas executes Troy Davis using Lundbeck pentobarbital, amplifying calls for execution drug controls.
22nd September: Reprieve calls on British MEPs to sign the Written Declaration on the export of drugs used for the death penalty in third countries (0029/2011) and review a Europe-wide ban.
26th September: Dr David Nicholl, a neurologist who uses Lundbeck drugs, files an emergency petition with Florida's Supreme Court to prevent the state's Department of Corrections from using the drugs in executions.
28th September: The state of Florida executes Manuel Valle after a two hour delay in which Supreme Court considers the case one final time.
3rd October: Reprieve writes to Illinois-headquartered firm Hospira, offering to assist them in creating a new distribution system for pancuronium bromide currently used in executions - the second drug in the lethal injection cocktail.
6th October: 168 MEPs submitt a Written Declaration on the export of drugs used for the death penalty in third countries (0029/2011). The number of signatures isn't enough for it to continue to the next stage within the European Parliament.
10th October: Reprieve calls on healthcare workers to take a stand against lethal injections as part of World Day Against the Death Penalty, citing the five botched executions of Brandon Rhode, Jeffrey Landrigan, Emanuel Hammond, Eddie Duval Powell and Roy Blankenship.
12th October: State representative Brad Drake files a bill in Florida which would eliminate the use of lethal injection as an execution method in favour of the electric chair or firing squad.
19th October: A key US drug manufacturer, the Israeli phamaceutical company Teva, announces it is ceasing production of pancuronium bromide. This leaves Hospira as the sole supplier of this drug to execution chambers.
4th November: California agrees to review the lethal injection procedure by September 15th 2012, effectively putting executions on hold for a year.
29th November: Indian pharmaceutical firm Naari, demands the return of drugs from Nebraska, after discovering that the drugs were wrongfully diverted to execution chambers from their purposed medical use in Zambia.
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