For executions, Texas switches to drug used on animals

Texas, the state that executes more inmates than any other, said on Wednesday it will follow Oklahoma and switch one of its lethal injection drugs to a sedative often used to euthanize animals.

"It has been used by Oklahoma in their execution process, so there is a precedent there," said Michelle Lyons, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. "Its use was upheld by the courts, so we're confident it would be upheld by courts for use in Texas."

The new drug, pentobarbital, will replace sodium thiopental in the Texas execution protocol. The change was necessary because Hospira Inc. of Illinois announced in January that it would stop making the anesthetic after Italy objected to Hospira manufacturing an execution drug in that country.

Since then, Ohio has also made the switch to pentobarbital, though its lethal injection protocol differs from that of Oklahoma and Texas. Ohio uses only pentobarbital while Texas and Oklahoma use a three-drug cocktail.

In that three-drug protocol, the sedative sodium thiopental -- now, pentobarbital -- is followed by lethal doses of drugs that relax muscles and stop the heart.

In Texas, the change in the lethal injection protocol is the most substantial since 1982, when the state carried out its first lethal injection, Lyons said.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

Lyons said Texas has enough pentobarbital to carry out the five executions that have been scheduled.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

The first prisoner scheduled to be given the new drug will be Cleve Foster, who is to be executed on April 5 for the abduction, rape and murder of Nyanuer "Mary" Pal, 28.

Maurie Levin, an attorney for Foster, criticized Texas' decision to introduce a new drug less than three weeks before Foster's scheduled execution.

"Prison officials are not medical professionals," Levin said in a statement. "They cannot be trusted to change a medical procedure in the dark of night without public scrutiny, especially when there is such a minimal track record on the use of pentobarbital in lethal injections."