GREAT BRITAIN: EXPORT OF PROPOFOL PROHIBITED

July 11, 2012: Vince Cable is prohibiting the export of Propofol used in American prisons amidst fears that its use in lethal injections would make the UK agreeable to executions.
The British Secretary will apply stringent controls in the distribution and sales of Propofol.
Cable decided to act after Missouri became the first US state to adopt Propofol for use in capital punishment, with others wanting to follow suit. “This country opposes the death penalty,” Cable said.
“We are clear that the state should never be complicit in judiciary executions through the use of British drugs in lethal injections.” The Missouri Department of Corrections is now dealing with a legal challenge from 21 prisoners facing death row who say that Propofol can cause severe suffering and pain before death and is inhumane.
Doctors warn that even well-trained professionals would be unable to administer a fatal dose humanely. The decision to prohibit exports from Britain could upset executions across the US as other European countries are likely to follow suit when there is a shortage of another sedative, sodium thiopental.
Cable said that the prohibition should not affect medical exports of the drug but he wanted to use the UK’s influence to make a standpoint on capital punishment. (Sources: Associated Press, 11/07/2012)