ITALY: THE CHAMBERS APPROVES ZAMPARUTTI MOTION AGAINST PENTOTAL EXPORTATION FOR LETHAL INJECTION

December 22, 2010: today, the Chamber of Deputies approved the motion presented by Radical parliamentarian Elisabetta Zamparutti that committed the government to ensuring that Pentotal produced in Italy does not end up in American jails, to be used in the practice of lethal injection.
The motion, signed by members of all political groups, commits the Government “to take every initiative towards guaranteeing that the production and foreign sale by pharmaceutical company Hospira (based in Liscate) of sodium thiopental and of other substances contained in lethal injection protocols in the USA are only authorised for medical purposes. For the drug to be sold it must be stated that the use of the product is allowed only in hospitals and in the contract of sale must be clearly specified that Hospira cannot allow the distribution of the product for the practice of lethal injection.”
On December 20, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini met with the Italian heads of the American multinational Hospira, who made themselves available to collaborate with the Italian authorities. They accepted that the production and sale of Pentotal be authorised exclusively for medical purposes. The pharmaceutical company would commit to not selling the product to foreign jails and insert a clause in contracts that specifies that the distribution of the product is not allowed for the practice of lethal injection.
For Elisabetta Zamparutti “we must now be vigilant to ensure that the terms of the agreement with Hospira are respected to stop Pentotal finishing in the hands of the hangman, who, in many American states, is on leave due to the shortage of the drugs used in lethal injection.” According to Zamparutti, “exportation would be paradoxical after the approval by the United Nations of a new Resolution for the universal moratorium on capital punishment that was strongly supported by Italy.” (Sources: HOC, 22/12/2010)