CT company says it won't continue making drug for lethal injections

HARTFORD, Connecticut — A Connecticut company that made a drug used in lethal injections under the Trump administration has said it will no longer produce the substance, according to a state lawmaker.

Absolute Standards, a chemical manufacturer in Hamden, confirmed that it had been a bulk supplier of pentobarbital, a central nervous system depressant widely used to euthanize animals and in euthanasia and is also used alone or in combination to administer the death penalty.

Absolute Standard’s confirmation, in a letter to state Sen. Saud Anwar and state Rep. Josh Elliott, is a response to lobbying by the two officials to end production of pentobarbital.

“For Absolute Standards to confirm it is no longer producing or selling pentobarbital is an incredibly positive step forward for Connecticut, and allows us to rest easier knowing our state is not contributing to unjust activities elsewhere in the country,” Anwar and Elliott said in a statement.

The letter from Absolute Standards, Inc. president John Criscio alludes to harassment and pressure over the issue.

“As one could expect, we have been inundated with vulgar, and sometimes threatening, attacks by telephone, letter, email, and social media,’ Criscio wrote. “As much as we do not wish to get involved in political issues, we do recognize your good intentions.”

According to Criscio, the company has not produced pentobarbital since December 2020, though it was registered as a federal supplier as late as 2022.

“In December 2020, we ceased any manufacture or sale of pentobarbital. We have not been registered with the DEA as a bulk manufacturer of pentobarbital since 2022. We have no intention to resume any production or sale of pentobarbital,” the letter said.

Prompted by a shortage of anesthetic previously used for lethal injections, sodium thiopental, pentobarbital was first used for execution in the U.S. as part of a lethal three-drug cocktail in 2010 in Oklahoma. The drug functions as a sedative to induce unconsciousness before two others, one a paralytic agent and another to stop the heart, take effect. It was used the next year alone in Ohio, according to published reports.

The U.S. government took interest in pentobarbital in 2019 when Trump Attorney General William Barr announced the federal government would resume executions after 17 years. The pause followed the botched death of a man in Oklahoma, who became unconscious only to wake up, thrashing, and die of a heart attack about 40 minutes afterward.

Trump’s term in office saw 13 federal executions, more than in the past half century combined, according to AP.

Moral objections to the death penalty are at the heart of the issue surrounding pentobarbital. States, then the federal government, turned to it when the European Union banned the export of sodium thiopental to prevent its use in executions. The only U.S. supplier had ceased manufacture in 2011 for similar reasons.

The presidential election has put the death penalty back in the spotlight. While President Joe Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, has ordered a moratorium on executions and Biden has promised to abolish the death penalty, the former president has advocated putting drug dealers to death and the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 has called for expansion of the death penalty.

Criscio’s letter alludes to accusations that Absolute Standard’s production of pentobarbital violated Connecticut law, since the state abolished the death penalty in 2012.

“Absolute Standards is a chemical manufacturing company. When we were registered with the Drug Enforcement Agency as a bulk manufacturer of pentobarbital, the Department of Justice’s position was that ‘articles intended for use in executions carried out by a State or the federal government cannot be regulated as ‘drugs’ or ‘devices’ under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act,'” the letter said.

Though production for federal use is regulated by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, Anwar and Elliott’s statement suggests they will look for a ban similar to that of the EU.

“Our state abolished the death penalty more than a decade ago, showing our dedication to what’s right. My colleagues and I will continue to develop legislation that would make any company’s connection to producing substances used for the death penalty in our state illegal, making sure our state’s values and policies are not violated.”