As Republicans thirst for restarting federal executions, Absolute Standards told Connecticut lawmakers it hasn’t made or sold pentobarbital since December 2020.
A Connecticut chemicals manufacturer that was identified as having sold a lethal drug to the Trump administration for use in its federal execution spree has said that it will no longer produce the substance, according to a letter obtained by The Intercept.
Zany: I just want to interrupt here for one second. This might sound like good news, but to me, this is very bad news. This drug provided a way to humanely execute people. Much like the way pets are euthanized to prevent suffering. Pets are injected with a similar drug which I always described as an “overdose of anesthesia.” They go to “sleep” first, then their heart stops. It prevents any pain or suffering during the process.
(For anyone new to the site, I worked in the veterinary field for 14 years as a kennel attendant, then receptionist, then veterinary assistant, then veterinary technician, so I’ve prepped animals for surgery, drew blood, injected sedative, and monitored anesthesia during surgery. I’ve been in the room for euthanasia well over 100 times.)
From drugs.com: “For fast and humane euthanasia FATAL-PLUS contains pentobarbital sodium as the active ingredient.” The reason I’m saying this is bad news is because of the news story that was going around not that long ago about the testing of a new form of execution that went horribly wrong, yet they are going to continue using it.
If this company isn’t going to continue producing the drug that euthanizes humans in a humane way, I fear all prisons will start using the Nitrogen gas execution method, which basically causes someone to suffocate to death when they can’t get oxygen.
Alabama’s testing of the method resulted in the article: I witnessed Alabama execute a man using nitrogen gas. It was horrific and cruel, and a minister is suing over what he witnessed.
In the description of the execution, which is extremely difficult to read, it says:
Saliva, mucus and other substances shot out of his mouth. The concoction of body fluids all started drizzling down the inside of the mask. Back and forth … back and forth … back and forth Kenny kept heaving.
We had been told by Alabama officials that the gas would kill Kenny in seconds, but the execution was now going on for minutes. Kenny was very much still conscious. I could see the horror in his eyes. In fact, I’ll never forget it…
John Criscio, the president of Absolute Standards, wrote to two Connecticut legislators last month that his company stopped manufacturing pentobarbital in December 2020. “We have no intention to resume any production or sale of pentobarbital,” Criscio added.
The one-page letter, which has not previously been reported on, is the first formal acknowledgment by Criscio that his small family business was making pentobarbital, a barbiturate that has been used both by itself and in combination with other drugs to carry out lethal injection executions.
The letter notes that the company had been registered with the Drug Enforcement Agency to manufacture pentobarbital, and it makes no mention of whether the company had provided execution drugs to the federal Bureau of Prisons. On two previous occasions, Criscio denied to The Intercept that his company had done so. The Intercept called Absolute Standards multiple times on Friday and was told that Criscio was not around. The company did not respond to an email requesting comment, nor did Criscio respond to messages sent to his personal email account.
CONTINUE READING ON THE INTERCEPT
Daniel Moritz-Rabson is a freelance journalist whose work has been published in outlets including The Appeal, Gothamist/WNYC and Fortune.
