New York City, N.Y., May 16, 2016 / 15:39 pm
The drug company Pfizer has announced it will no longer sell drugs for use in lethal injections because it objects to their use in executions.
"Pfizer makes its products to enhance and save the lives of the patients we serve. Consistent with these values, Pfizer strongly objects to the use of its products as lethal injections for capital punishment," the company said in an April 2016 policy position paper.
The company is enforcing a distribution restriction for seven drugs that have been a part of lethal injection protocols or have considered for such protocols.
The new policy means there is no remaining open-market source of lethal injection drugs in the U.S., the New York Times reports. Over 20 American and European companies have adopted restrictions on lethal injection drug provision, sometimes as a result of advocacy from death penalty opponents. The European Union has banned the export of the drugs used in lethal injections.