Where does Texas acquire the Pentobarbital it uses for executions? I was under the impression that pharmaceutical companies frown on the use of their products for executions.
Likely the same place(s) which manufacture it for legal veterinary practice, for the same purpose. But just BP/USP grade.
Texas is openly hiding it.
As far as I know, those places still forbid the use of their drugs to kill human beings. Am I wrong?
It is legal to sell pentobarbital for application in humans at low dosages.
The manufacturers aren’t pretending their product can’t legally and humanely euthanise.
It’s the Texas state house which determines its legality to use at lethal dose for humans.
Maybe Texas bought a barrel of the stuff a couple of decades ago and none has been sold for that express cruel and unusual punishment since.
Are you wanting the manufacturer to recall their product?
My understanding is many companies refuse to sell drugs to the government if the drug is meant to be used in executions.
It may be legal for them to sell it for this purpose but it is also legal for them to refuse to sell to anyone for (almost) any reason.
Whether they really live up to these ideals as a company or say they do and turn a blind-eye I do not know.
Given there are not a lot of executions the company probably feels that selling a dozen doses is nowhere near worth it compared to the PR shit storm they might have to cope with. Put another way, they will not miss lost business from Texas executioners. (Texas executed five people in 2024)
Sarah Sanders signed bill recently for Arkansas to buy Nitrogen gas because they can’t get all the drugs needed for lethal injection. Mainly the Pharma companies have sued and it is either bogged down in motions or shelved.
Either way she’s determined to do the executions.
I’m surprised they don’t have some independant compounders making it up as needed.
I am just wanting a factual answer to the question I ask, which is why I am asking it in this forum.
Gemini says Texas uses independent Compounding pharmacies, in state and it is very secretive. Which is, apparently legal in Texas.
So there you have it.
I asked my AI and put it into its best research mode. Here’s your FQ from it:
I’ll search for recent information about Texas’s sourcing of pentobarbital for executions, as this has been an evolving issue with significant changes in recent years.Based on my research, Texas has obtained pentobarbital for executions from several sources over recent years, though many details remain secret due to state law. Here’s a comprehensive overview:
Current Situation (2024-2025)
In September 2024, Texas acquired 20 1-gram vials of pentobarbital, and in February 2025 obtained eight 2.5-gram vials. These purchases are documented on DEA forms but the supplier information is redacted. Documents show multiple transactions from October 2024 through March 2025 totaling more than $775,000. The 20 vials acquired in September 2024 had an April 2025 expiration date and were used for executions of Garcia White in October 2024 and Steven Nelson, Richard Tabler and Moises Mendoza in early 2025.
Known Suppliers Over Recent Years
Rite-Away Pharmacy (2019-2023)
NPR investigation revealed that Rite-Away Pharmacy and Medical Supply, a San Antonio compounding pharmacy, produced injectable pentobarbital from 2019 through at least late 2023. Key details include:
- State representatives delivered powdered pentobarbital to Rite-Away in unmarked cars to avoid attracting attention
- The pharmacist compounded the drug using sterile water, a synthetic liquid substance, alcohol and the pentobarbital powder from Texas
- The pharmacy charged the state less than $100,000 in total for multiple batches
- Rite-Away had multiple safety and cleanliness violations with the Texas Board of Pharmacy and federal DEA, including that another branch was selling opioids to drug users and dealers
Greenpark Compounding Pharmacy (2015-2018)
BuzzFeed News reported in 2018 that Greenpark Compounding Pharmacy in Houston provided compounded pentobarbital from April 2015 through at least 2018. Notable issues:
- Greenpark had been cited for 48 violations in eight years, including keeping out-of-date drugs in stock, improper procedures for IV solutions, and inadequate cleaning
- The pharmacy’s license was put on probation in November 2016 after it gave three children the wrong medication, sending one to the hospital
The Woodlands Compounding Pharmacy (2013)
In 2013, Texas obtained eight vials of pentobarbital from The Woodlands Compounding Pharmacy near Houston. After the pharmacy’s identity became public, owner Jasper Lovoi demanded the state return the drugs, citing harassment and saying he had been told the information would be kept “on the down low.” Texas refused to return the drugs.
Legal Framework and Secrecy
In 2015, Texas passed a law dictating that the identities of all those involved in carrying out a death sentence are to be hidden from public view, from the drug supplier to the person who pushes the plunger. This law came after the Woodlands Compounding Pharmacy incident.
Cost Issues
When execution drugs are significantly marked up, particularly for federally approved manufactured drugs, it raises questions about who sold them to a state, how that supplier obtained them and whether regulatory channels were subverted. Commercially made injectable pentobarbital typically costs about $2,500 for a 2.5-gram vial, but states are paying far more - Idaho spent about $200,000 for three purchases, Indiana paid more than $1 million for four doses, and Utah spent roughly $200,000 for drugs used in a 2024 execution.
Failed Import Attempt
In 2015, Texas attempted to import thousands of vials of sodium thiopental from a supplier in India to use in executions, but the shipments were seized by the FDA because they were not approved in the U.S.
Current Unknowns
The current supplier (2024-2025) remains unknown due to Texas’s secrecy law, though documents indicate some batches are labeled with “beyond-use dates” (suggesting compounded drugs) while others have expiration dates (suggesting manufactured drugs).
Key Sources
- NBC News investigation on recent pentobarbital acquisitions (October 2024)
- NPR investigation on Rite-Away Pharmacy (July 2024)
- Texas Tribune’s execution drug tracker
- Death Penalty Information Center reports
The pattern shows Texas has relied on compounding pharmacies with questionable safety records while paying significantly inflated prices, all protected by secrecy laws that prevent full public accountability.
This is a bit obvious, but nitrogen is not some ‘special gas’ used particularly for executions.
80% of the air you are now breathing is nitrogen. And it is a very commonly used industrial substance, available commercially everywhere.
Just reporting what I read.
I assumed they meant “laughing gas” like dentists use.
I get the idea the doomed individual is sedated before the execution drugs are introduced.
I just referred back to the article. It is the controversial Act 302, The Nitogen Execution law Sarah Sanders signed into law.
They referred to the drug as Nitrogen hypoxia. If that clarifies.
Nitrogen hypoxia is the deprivation of oxygen to the body caused by breathing in an atmosphere with a significantly reduced amount of oxygen, often due to the presence of a high concentration of nitrogen gas.
Ahh. Got it.
That seems a bit like “cruel and unusual”.
That Sarah Sanders is evil.
Why are states putting prisoners to death with a hard-to-procure drug whose procurement requires secrecy and chicanery? They could just as easily use a fatal dose of Fentanyl which pharmaceutical companies pump out by the kilo (and, how about that, a lot of it winds up on the streets).
Beck, you need to read more science.
Nitrogen is not a toxic substance or a ‘drug’. It is about 78% of the atmoshere we all breath.
The key term is ‘hypoxia’. The method of execution is not administering nitrogen: it is removing the oxygen from the mixture which is breathed by the executee. Which causes unconsciousness and eventual death, of course, because that 20% of oxygen in the air is what animals need to survive.
Not saying I am in favor of capital punishment, but let’s get the facts right.
I don’t want to pit here but please do a bit more research before posting things based on keywords you are not familiar with and do not understand.
AIUI the feeling of suffocation is caused by excess CO2 in your body and not lack of oxygen. So, with nitrogen you will just black out and then die from lack of oxygen since the CO2 can get out just fine and your brain never sounds the panic alarm.
This is one reason why carbon monoxide poisoning in a home can be so dangerous. You will not smell it or anything. You just pass out and then die a few minutes later.
The actual question then, is what are the symptoms of hypoxia (specifically with nitrogen).
>The US Air Force trains air crews to recognize their subjective signs of approaching hypoxia. Some individuals experience headache, dizziness, fatigue, nausea and euphoria, and some become unconscious without warning. Loss of consciousness may be accompanied by convulsions and is followed by cyanosis and cardiac arrest.
So it’s not going to sleep quietly and never waking up. Things can happen. I assume the goal of injectible drugs like in Texas was to basically only “put the person to sleep”, quietly and painlessly.
I remember being warned on a visit to Tibet that the symptoms of hypoxia - low amounts of oxygen for those not acclimatized - could include headaches.
From what I have read, that seems to be correct. It appears that the physiological trigger for needing to breathe is CO2 concentration rather than oxygen shortage. I’ll see if I can find some cites…