08 July 2018 :

Texas received new lethal injection supplies in June. Amid speculation about its ability to carry out the flurry of 7 new executions on the calendar, state records show the Texas prison system in recent weeks received 15 more doses of the powerful barbiturate used in its Huntsville death chamber. The additional vials ensure that the state can now carry out all the currently scheduled death dates, but some experts say it raises questions about how officials obtained new doses of pentobarbital at a time when drug-makers have backed away from its use in executions. "That I'm aware of, there is no legal source for pentobarbital, compounded or otherwise. None," said Maurie Levin, a defense attorney with expertise in lethal injection litigation. "All the companies that previously provided compounded pentobarbital are now subject to end-use controls by the manufacturers and if they are distributing it to a prison for use in executions they are violating that contract."