Row over drug in lethal injection may prevent Missouri execution

A court hearing is scheduled Tuesday in the federal lawsuit filed by inmate Michael Taylor against The Apothecary Shoppe, a compounding pharmacy in Tulsa. A court hearing is scheduled Tuesday in the federal lawsuit filed by inmate Michael Taylor against The Apothecary Shoppe, a compounding pharmacy in Tulsa that his attorneys said was providing a drug that could cause “inhumane pain” during his 26 February execution. In their lawsuit, Taylor’s attorneys alleged that Missouri turned to The Apothecary Shoppe to supply compounded pentobarbital because the only licensed manufacturer of the drug refuses to provide it for lethal injections. Taylor’s attorneys say the cloak of secrecy surrounding how Missouri obtains its execution drug and questions about loosely regulated compounding pharmacies raise concerns. The suit alleges that several recent executions in which compounded pentobarbital was used showed it would likely cause Taylor “severe, unnecessary, lingering and ultimately inhumane pain.” Execution drugs have become increasingly difficult to obtain because major drug makers have stopped selling pharmaceuticals for use in the death penalty.