DANISH COMPANY MOVES TO BLOCK USE OF DRUG FOR LETHAL INJECTIONS

July 1, 2011: Lundbeck overhauls pentobarbital distribution program to restrict misuse. New specialty pharmacy drop ship program will deny distribution of pentobarbital to prisons in U.S. states currently carrying out the death penalty by lethal injection.
Lundbeck today announced that the company has moved to alter the distribution of its medicine Nembutal® (pentobarbital sodium injection, USP) in order to restrict its application as part of lethal injection in the U.S.
Going forward, Nembutal will be supplied exclusively through a specialty pharmacy drop ship program that will deny distribution of the product to prisons in U.S. states currently active in carrying out the death penalty by lethal injection.
The company notified its distributors of the plan in late June. The new distribution program ensures that hospitals and treatment centers will continue to have access to Nembutal for therapeutic purposes. Under the program, Lundbeck will review all Nembutal orders before providing clearance for shipping the product and deny orders from prisons located in states currently active in carrying out death penalty sentences. Prior to receiving Nembutal, the purchaser must sign a form stating that the purchase of Nembutal is for its own use and that it will not redistribute any purchased product without express written authorization from Lundbeck.
By signing the form, the purchaser agrees that the product will not be made available for use in capital punishment.
"Lundbeck adamantly opposes the distressing misuse of our product in capital punishment. Since learning about the misuse we have vetted a broad range of remedies - many suggested during ongoing dialogue with external experts, government officials, and human rights advocates. After much consideration, we have determined that a restricted distribution system is the most meaningful means through which we can restrict the misuse of Nembutal," says Ulf Wiinberg, Chief Executive Officer of H. Lundbeck A/S and continues: "While the company has never sold the product directly to prisons and therefore can't make guarantees, we are confident that our new distribution program will play a substantial role in restricting prisons' access to Nembutal for misuse as part of lethal injection."
Nembutal represents less than one percent of Lundbeck's global sales but the company chose not to withdraw the product from the market because the product continues to meet an important medical need in the U.S. Nembutal is used to treat serious conditions such as a severe and life threatening emergency epilepsy.
“Lundbeck’s move has serious implications for those states that already use pentobarbital for lethal injection executions as well as those states that were preparing to make the switch,” said Deborah Denno, a Fordham University law professor who is a death penalty opponent. “In due time, states will have to find an alternative drug, thereby repeating the cycle that started when states abandoned sodium thiopental. This development throws doubt yet again on the viability of using drug injections as an execution method because surely this cycle has no foreseeable end,” she said. (Sources: Lundbeck press release, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, 01/07/2011)