By AP
Frankfort, KY – Ky. hands over its lethal injection drug to DEA
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) Kentucky has turned over its supply of a key lethal injection drug to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
Kentucky Justice Department spokeswoman Jennifer Brislin said in a statement Friday that the state turned over its supply of sodium thiopental to be used as evidence in a case in another jurisdiction.
The drug has been in short supply since its primary manufacturer in the United States, Hospira Inc., stopped making the drug earlier this year.
Sodium thiopental is a fast-acting sedative that is typically the first drug used when putting inmates to death.
Some states have considered switching from sodium thiopental to pentobarbital, a sedative that has a range of medical uses and is used to euthanize animals. Pentobarbital has already been used to execute prisoners in Ohio and Oklahoma.