USA - Louisiana. State accesses drug for execution from area hospital.

State accesses drug for execution from area hospital. Recent botched executions have created more scrutiny about the drugs used for the death penalty, their effectiveness and where they come from. And as Christopher Sepulvado's execution date approached - an online news outlet - The Lens - began investigating the source of drugs to be used for his lethal injection. The execution is on hold. But The Lens found out 1 drug - hydromorphone - was obtained from Lake Charles Memorial Hospital. LCMH officials say they don't intend to get involved in a debate about the death penalty, but they do confirm, when the drug was provided, it was intended for medical use. "We were contacted back in January, our pharmacist here at Memorial, from a pharmacist at the Hunt Medical Center, saying that they needed the drug, hydromorphone, for a medical patient and at that time we complied with the request. At no time did Memorial believe or was led to believe that the drug would be used for an execution," said Matt Felder, spokesman for LCMH. Memorial Hospital Board Member, Judge Gene Thibodeaux, says in the article they've been assured it will not happen again. Thibodeaux did not want to appear on camera. A bill to allow State Department of Corrections to hide information about its execution drugs was shelved in the end during this past legislative session. Such issues will likely be resolved in the courts. We called the Louisiana DOC for comment but have not heard back from them.