How many doses of lethal injection drugs does Texas have?
By Jolie McCullough Last Updated: July 25, 201710 doses in stock
07 scheduled executions
With execution drugs in short supply across the nation and increasing secrecy about the companies that provide them, The Texas Tribune is keeping track of movement in the state’s supply.
= one dose
= scheduled execution
10 doses expire Jan. 22, 2018
Execution scheduled after doses in stock expire
Scheduled executions
Jul 27 TaiChin Preyor
Aug 30 Steven Long
Sep 7 Juan Castillo
Oct 12 Robert Pruett
Oct 18 Anthony Shore
Oct 26 Clinton Young
Jan 30 William Rayford
Recent inventory changes
-8 doses July 20, 2017 Drugs expired
-8 doses March 31, 2017 Drugs expired
-1 dose March 14, 2017 Execution of James Bigby
Why this mattersSince 1977, lethal injection has been the method for executing Texas criminals sentenced to death. But the drugs used in executions have changed over the years, as the state has struggled to get a hold of enough life-ending doses.
Texas, along with other states that hold executions, has been engaged in a battle for years to keep an adequate inventory of execution drugs. Currently, the state uses only pentobarbital, a sedative it has purchased from compounding pharmacies kept secret from the public.
To promote transparency, The Texas Tribune has obtained the inventory history and current supply of execution drugs held by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The information, collected through continuous open records requests, will be updated regularly with the available doses and recent changes to the state’s inventory.
In 2011, drug manufacturers began blocking their products from being used in lethal injections. As Texas’ struggled to perform executions, it turned to compounding pharmacies, state-regulated agencies that mix their own drugs without federal regulation.
When one pharmacy’s name became public, the owner said he received threats, and asked for the drugs to be returned. Texas refused, and the state Legislature passed a law in 2015 to maintain the privacy of any person or business involved in an execution, from the person who inserts the needle to the company that sells the drug.
Since then, Texas appears to have had a steady supply of pentobarbital in stock for scheduled executions, faring better than some other states. In 2016, Pfizer, the last-remaining open-market execution drug manufacturer, banned its products from being used in executions.
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https://apps.texastribune.org/execution-drugs/?_ga=2.263302348.1981072943.1501033407-1890660966.1500055060
