Texas AG sues FDA for delaying import of death penalty drug

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4eBEUDKn7jC_gbbXo4_1WVg-feZQna8nMihXzUd6ApqMrnVtuVwhDgs1GEqLupZAzz-f2PAzwWXHZWSmPY3hr_5ROcx0AaAdz2xpTv7jOId8pWSM7eMKmQNYKmzMwqJS3Z3pt9Psq8Qk/s1600/FDA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4eBEUDKn7jC_gbbXo4_1WVg-feZQna8nMihXzUd6ApqMrnVtuVwhDgs1GEqLupZAzz-f2PAzwWXHZWSmPY3hr_5ROcx0AaAdz2xpTv7jOId8pWSM7eMKmQNYKmzMwqJS3Z3pt9Psq8Qk/s400/FDA.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">AUSTIN (KXAN) — Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Tuesday his office has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for delaying the state’s importation of a drug used in capital punishment.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The lawsuit argues the FDA’s claimed legal grounds for refusing the drugs’ entry into the United States are invalid, citing an FDA exemption for law enforcement purposes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thiopental sodium, also known as Sodium thiopental, is part of the three-drug cocktail used in lethal injections.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In its December newsletter, the Council of State Governments said, while Texas has 317 inmates on death row, it only has enough of a key lethal injection drug to execute two of them, stemming from a nationwide shortage of the drug.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Attorney General’s Office is asking the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to declare the FDA’s delay unlawful and compel the agency to make a final decision on the admissibility of the drug, which was detained by the FDA 17 months ago.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“There are only two reasons why the FDA would take 17 months to make a final decision on Texas’ importation of thiopental sodium: gross incompetence or willful obstruction,” said Attorney General Paxton. “The FDA has an obligation to fulfill its responsibilities faithfully and in a timely manner. My office will not allow the FDA to sit on its hands and thereby impair Texas’ responsibility to carry out its law enforcement duties.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In April 2016, the FDA <a href="http://kxan.com/2016/04/21/texas-under-fire-for-importing-lethal-injection-drugs/" target="_blank">blocked an appeal to bring in Sodium thiopental</a> from India. Experts in the FDA said there is not a legal use for the drug in the U.S.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Texas Department of Criminal Justice previously used the drug as part of a three-drug cocktail for executions. Since 2012, Texas has used a large dose of a single powerful sedative to carry out executions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The maker of the drug made it off limits to sell to the government for execution purposes. Texas has been using compounding pharmacies to make the drugs needed for executions..</div><br />Source: <a href="http://kxan.com/2017/01/03/paxton-sues-fda-for-delaying-import-of-death-penalty-drug/" target="_blank">KXAN</a>, Andy Jechow, January 3, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Texas AG sues FDA for delaying import of death penalty drug

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Tuesday his office has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (...

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