
Pfizer blocks drugs from being used in lethal injections - Tomte
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/13/health/pfizer-death-penalty-drugs/
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13of40
The way we do lethal injection is weird and over-engineered anyway. They use
three chemicals to do what we routinely do to dogs with one, and even then it
could be done quite humanely with just a sealed room and a tank of nitrogen.

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ams6110
Or carbon monoxide. Odorless, undetectable, the body thinks it's oxygen so
there's no sense of being asphyxiated.

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masklinn
> Or carbon monoxide

You don't even need CO, any inert gas other than CO2 will do as long as you
remove the oxygen (nitrogen is convenient as the atmosphere is already mostly
nitrogen)

> the body thinks it's oxygen so there's no sense of being asphyxiated.

CO does compete with O2 which kills you, but the reason the body doesn't react
is it basically doesn't react to anything other than CO2 blood levels. You can
asphyxiate with argon, butane, nitrogen, helium, krypton, etc… and not realise
it as long as CO2 partial pressure doesn't rise.

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Plasmoid
CO is dangerous because you _don 't_ need to remove the O2 from a room to be
lethal.

All the other gases cause asphyxiation by taking the place of oxygen in the
air. So once you leave the room, you'll be fine.

CO is dangerous because it takes the place of oxygen in the blood and it has a
stronger attraction to hemoglobin than oxygen. So get enough CO in your blood
and your organs suffocate, even if you are put in a pure O2 environment right
away.

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masklinn
> CO is dangerous because you don't need to remove the O2 from a room to be
> lethal.

Which is relevant… how? The thread isn't about CO poisoning compared to other
modes of asphyxiation.

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tomp
It's not clear from the title, but this seems to apply to injections used for
murder (capital punishment), not euthanasia.

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getpost
I don't see any comments on the question of whether a commercial entity has
legal standing to control the use of products it sells. A commercial entity
relies on the legal system to enforce any restrictions, so this amounts to a
question of whether the public should facilitate and subsidize the political
wishes of a commercial entity. I think not, just as the taxpayers should not
be subsidizing inadequate wages paid by companies like Walmart.

Export laws, being enacted and enforced by a government, are a different
matter, of course.

I'm strongly opposed to the death penalty, for both moral and practical
reasons. This story is another reminder for me on how the functions of
government have been co-opted for private gain. This kind of thing makes
everyone poorer.

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charonn0
The article is highly misleading in this respect. The restrictions are
contractual and imposed upon Pfizer's distributors/resalers. State governments
must also certify that purchases won't be used for executions. Likely the only
consequence for violations is being blacklisted by Pfizer.

The original press release[1] states:

> Pfizer’s distribution restriction limits the sale of these seven products to
> a select group of wholesalers, distributors, and direct purchasers under the
> condition that they will not resell these products to correctional
> institutions for use in lethal injections. Government purchasing entities
> must certify that products they purchase or otherwise acquire are used only
> for medically prescribed patient care and not for any penal purposes. Pfizer
> further requires that these Government purchasers certify that the product
> is for “own use” and will not resell or otherwise provide the restricted
> products to any other party.

> Pfizer will consistently monitor the distribution of these seven products,
> act upon findings that reveal noncompliance, and modify policies when
> necessary to remain consistent with our stated position against the improper
> use of our products in lethal injections. Importantly, this distribution
> system is also designed to ensure that these critical medications will
> remain immediately available to those patients who rely on them every day.

[1]:
[http://www.pfizer.com/files/b2b/GlobalPolicyPaperLethalInjec...](http://www.pfizer.com/files/b2b/GlobalPolicyPaperLethalInjection.pdf)

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citricsquid
Here's some more reading on the subject of the lethal injection drug shortage,
including a per-state breakdown:

[https://www.themarshallproject.org/2016/04/12/how-the-
drug-s...](https://www.themarshallproject.org/2016/04/12/how-the-drug-
shortage-has-slowed-the-death-penalty-treadmill)

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nsns
Slightly OT: out of curiosity, anyone knows what's being used for legal
Euthanasia, e.g. in the Netherlands?

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luukbuit
A barbiturate (a drug that acts as central nervous system depressant, i.e.
sodium thiopental or propofol) in combination with a muscle relaxant. Death
cause: oxygen deficiency, within seconds.

Source:
[https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasie](https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasie)
(dutch)

~~~
refurb
Minor correction propofol is not a barbiturate. They also tend to use longer
acting barbiturates. Sodium thiopentol wears off after 10-15 minutes.

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leesalminen
Interesting. I wonder if this is revenge for DOT blocking the Allergan deal.

Good for Pfizer for showing some cajones.

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amelius
> Good for Pfizer for showing some cajones.

Well, you could also view this from the opposite angle: if they didn't block
this, how good would it look on them?

Also, I can't help but wonder what their stance would be if the "execution"
market was much larger.

Anyway, I still applaud this move of course, that is not the point.

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chillacy
I imagined drug commercials for execution drugs.

Side effects include dizziness, headaches, vomiting, and on rare occasions,
not-death.

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hellbanner
Meta: How does this reach front page with 4 points?

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nsns
You could call it the "Sunday effect".

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gtirloni
This happens routinely on weekdays too. Number of points is not indicative of
something appearing on the frontpage. I don't know what is though, which makes
me suspicious of hidden agendas.

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awqrre
The admins here do promote stories to the front page when they want it to get
more views.

