In the forthcoming week the United States is poised to make execution history by allowing a prison in Nebraska to use a made-in-India chemical for killing a death-row inmate. That the drug being used, unconsciousness-inducing sodium thiopental, was procured fraudulently from its manufacturer – who is “shocked and appalled” at its proposed use – is an additional twist to this saga of a growing trans-border death-trade.
Unless he is saved by a clemency petition or last-ditch legal recourse, when Michael Ryan, on death row for a double-murder in the 1980s, is strapped into a gurney and injected with lethal chemicals on March 6, he will die knowing that a drug made in the town of Kashipur, Uttarakhand in India probably caused his death.
While Ryan had earlier obtained a stay order on his execution from the Nebraska Supreme Court, that decision was reversed at the end of last week when a County District Judge, Daniel Bryan Jr., rejected his appeal. In doing so the court however did not specifically comment on Ryan’s challenge relating to how Nebraska obtained one of three lethal-injection drugs it has on hand.
Ironically the setback for Ryan will also come as a blow to the proprietors of Naari, a Swiss-Indian pharmaceutical company. Naari has argued, for more than six months now that the 485 grams of sodium thiopental now in the possession of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS) were taken from it under false pretences by a middleman called Chris Harris.
The attempt of Mr. Harris to procure sodium thiopental, proved duplicitous by shipping documents and other paperwork in The Hindu’s possession, come in the wake of a similarly controversial attempt by him obtain the narcotic from a Mumbai-based firm called Kayem Pharmaceuticals.
Yet a U.K.-based anti-death penalty group called Reprieve, which had earlier tracked the NDCS’s efforts to source the drug from a shadowy firm in the United Kingdom, highlighted Mr. Harris’ interactions with Kayem and the intense pressure on the firm led to it stating publicly that it would immediately halt all exports of thiopental to the U.S.
The U.S. prison’s move to seek the drug in U.K. had also met with a storm of opposition across Europe and led to the ban of all such drug exports to the U.S. in that continent. However although the import from Kayem was not approved by U.S. regulators Mr. Harris succeeded in procuring over 500 one-gram vials of thiopental – enough to kill 166 men – for the NDCS.
According to sources, U.S. regulators have conveyed to the NDCS that they do not approve of the use of Kayem’s sodium thiopental in executions given that proper importation procedures were not followed. However Mr. Harris learned a lesson from the ban on Kayem’s drugs and would appear to have followed import guidelines for Naari’s drugs – although as in the case of Kayem the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration has refused to certify the Naari drugs too.
The NDCS no doubt considers this development timely. Along with Georgia, Arizona, Texas and other U.S. states, Nebraska is said to be facing acute shortages of execution drugs since the 2010 voluntary shut-down of a firm called Hospira, the sole producer of sodium thiopental in the U.S. at the time.
Given the regulatory issues impeding the use of foreign-made sodium thiopental numerous correctional facilities in the U.S. are also considering a switch to pentobarbital, a veterinary euthanasia barbiturate used to put down dogs, or using a single-drug execution procedure.
If Nebraska does not switch to some alternative then fate of Naari’s drugs would appear to be written, despite Naari CEO Prithi Kochhar dashing off an anxious letter to Nebraska Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Heavican, in which he expressed his dismay at by the prospect that Naari’s drugs could thus be used in execution procedures. Going by a response of a judicial official, that letter has been set aside in the consideration of the Ryan case.
Regardless, Mr. Kochhar argued that Naari’s agreement with Mr. Harris was for Mr. Harris to use the vials for registration in Zambia, get the product registered there and then begin selling it there, given that sodium thiopental is used widely as an anaesthetic in the developing world.
Unfortunately the most recent decision condemning Ryan to death will lead to Naari’s drugs being used for an entirely more macabre purpose.
Keywords: Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, Nebraska prison, India-made death drug, sodium thiopental, Naari
To all the "it's just business" commenters on this thread:
The point is that sodium thiopenthal is an ethical pharmaceutical, developed by doctors in clinical trials to relieve human suffering during surgery. It is made and supplied on this basis. Taking the drug from this context for use in executions contravenes every norm of medical ethics, all the way back to Hippocrates.
I would like to congratulate Naari CEO Prithi Kochhar for his principled stance, which can only elevate the reputation of his enterprise, and by extension, the Indian pharmaceutical industry, in the eyes of the world.
This article is just as meaningless as my comments! Ever heard the US or China boasting about India using a variety of their products? For all we know, we might be using Bangladeshi coir for hanging our criminals. But who cares about it? SHOULD ANYONE CARE AT ALL?? Then why this furor over such a non-issue??
US needed something and we sold it to them. Whats wrong in that? What is the need for such a melodrama? In a way, the international anti- execution teams are blackmailing countries producing such drugs and thus making a mockery of the judicial system of a country using it. We did not ask the US to order someone to be executed and then buy the drug from us! If they have approved our drug, it is a testimony to the quality of the medicine produced, and thus a testimony to the technological advance we have made. Why should someone cry for that?
Menno Aartsen has put it well. I feel the issue is cheating Indian business.
The point is - inappropriate usage of the drug. This detail is missed out in the initial paragraphs and is presented like an additional information!!!
There is no need to discuss other details like even the name of the prisoner.
Its surprising to read such a misleading content in The Hindu.
I fail to understand why so much of hue and cry over this issue... What problem even the indian pharmaceutical company has over the usage of its drugs beside that the harris fooled them for its usage. and I even fail to understand why the U.S. authorities have to procure the drug like this... the death sentence is approved by their court and is very legitimate. They don't have any pharma company creating it now... so they wanna import it... whats wrong in that ?...why use illegitimate means... whats the core issue ??? if someone aware of it., please highlight that
What does it matter as to where the drug is made? Why should it be 'duplicitous'? If, as per state law, the execution has to be carried out, let it be! Michael Ryan deserves to die for his crimes. Let's not get weak-kneed about the source of the drug.
The sentence "......will die knowing that a drug made in the town of
Kashipur, Uttarakhand in India probably caused his death." is very
dramatically put here. I can't imagine a person about to die wondering
about who actually made the drug. In today's capitalistic system, I am
sure nobody cares about what is used for what purpose.
Most of us are completely missing the point here. I agree that the accused has been sentenced to death by due process of law. The worrying point is this, most of the companies especially Indian pharmacueticals manufacturing this drug which they have described here that it is used for anaesthetic purposes is being used for a "macabre" purpose elsewhere. This is the bone of contention. Imagine you run a company making drugs for life saving causes and it ends up being used for exactly its opposite, how would that make you feel?
I dont see any human rights violation or any of that sort of argument presented here to substantiate that this is a pro-accused article.
The US is a democratic country with an independent judiciary like India. Just like India, the US also executes criminals after layers of necessary judicial scrutiny and an option for Presidential pardon. Unlike in China or Saudi Arabia, all necessary safeguards are taken before sentencing a person to death in India and the US, though I am totally against capital punishment. But I do NOT find anything wrong India, directly or indirectly, supplying the lethal injection to kill criminals. We should not rake up unnecessary controversies over such things.
So, what is the author's contention here? A convict who is on death row due to murder ought to get a reprieve by non-availability of execution apparatus. And its funny to see rights group (whose rights is still not clear) in those countries putting pressure on Indian companies to prevent the export of such a chemical. What about exerting pressure on your own companies from exporting guns or ammunition. Or on your own government from invading other countries.
Speechless. I thought the US was well ahead of the world in chemicals after it stole most of the German patents including aspirin (from Bayer) after the Second World War?
I see some confusion in the comments, let me try to clarify: The last manufacturer of sodium thiopental in the United States was closed down, for reasons not related to death penalty matters, and so far no sodium thiopental made elsewhere has been approved for importation - other than for medical use. As far as I understand, the certification of sodium thiopental for importation has to be carried out by a medical doctor, and none have been found willing to certify the drug for the purpose of killing criminals. Additionally, no major drug manufacturers have been found that were willing to supply sodium thiopental for this purpose.
Is it ok to use the drug to put animals to death but not for murderers sentenced to death? Human arrogance and double standards on display.
I dont know what is the big deal with this news especially when there
are pressing issues which deserve much better attention than the
execution of a US detenu using a Made In India drug...
Someone said it right here. This is pseudo moralism !. And if we start making such links downstream, then we can go all the way making connections to this drug with the courier company that took it to the airport, the airline it used, the state where it was produced, the employees of the company in India which produced the drug, and so on. Unlimited linkage exercise, that serve no purpose and we will end up a country that cannot do anything for fear of being accused of some remote linkage or other.
It would be folly to imagine that the American justice system is known for its fairplay and ethics! The USA has the highest percentage of citizens in prison and now we have something called a Department of Correction Services condemning a man to death! What kind of "correction" is this?
Why fret and fume ? Many pesticides are also killers if they are not used properly. Even nectar taken in excess turns into poison.
Sir, We should also take into account that, there are a lot of spurious drug company in india with a very good record of killing people!
Outsourcing at its best.
Just what is all this pseudo-moralist drama about? The drug used for lethal injections
is not exclusive and can be procured by US State governments legally and officially.
The man convicted to die has been punished by a due process of law. He has been
awarded the death penalty which is also awarded to heinous criminals in India. The
main difference is that in the USA the penalty is carried out and in India the
government lacks the guts to do so.
It would be good if author decribes the reason why Ryan is put to death? What is the offence he has committed for which he is convicted to death? The report is written from the accused stand point and not from victims stand point. Ofcourse if the drug is received in a illegal/improper way, a different drug needs to be procurred in a legal/correct way. That is procedural. It does not make Ryan innocent.
What's wrong in executing a prisoner after his conviction? The
conviction was through the American justice system, known for it's
fairplay and ethics. Why this cry for a hardcore criminal?
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