USA - Nebraska. FDA says Nebraska can't legally import execution drug.

FDA says Nebraska can't legally import execution drug. A push to execute 10 condemned men despite the repeal of Nebraska's death penalty was confronted with yet another hurdle Friday when an official with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the state can't legally import sodium thiopental. "At this time, we have no indication, aside from media reports, that sodium thiopental has recently been imported into the United States by state officials or correctional systems," said Jeff Ventura with the FDA. "With very limited exceptions, which do not apply here, it is unlawful to import this drug, and the FDA would refuse its admission into the United States." Gov. Pete Ricketts said he agrees with the attorney general that Nebraska should be able to execute its death row inmates upon receiving the drugs it recently bought from a broker in India. The state has already paid $54,400 to replace 2 lethal injection drugs that had expired. "Our plan is to proceed with the executions," the governor said Friday during a press conference that marked the end of the 2015 legislative session. The 2 drugs purchased from the foreign supplier are part of the state's 3-drug lethal injection protocol. After being informed of the FDA's statement, James Foster, a spokesman for the Nebraska Department of Corrections, said the agency has been advised by the attorney general that its actions are "proper and legal.""We are following all the legal procedures that the agency is aware of," he said, adding that the drugs are being manufactured. "There is no FDA rule or case law that the agency is aware of that would categorically preclude the importation of these 2 drugs." The question of FDA oversight of foreign-manufactured lethal injection drugs stems from a 2013 court decision. In Cook v. FDA, a federal court ordered the FDA to prohibit the importation of lethal injection drugs that fail to meet the agency's standards. The part of the ruling on the FDA's role in lethal injection drugs was upheld by the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Attorney General Doug Peterson has said the 2013 ruling does not apply to Nebraska because the state was not party to the case, which involved death row inmates in Arizona, California and Tennessee. Dale Baich, assistant federal public defender in Arizona who represented inmates in the Cook case, called the attorney general's conclusion "ridiculous." "If the drug is not FDA approved, it cannot be imported to the United States," Baich said, explaining that the court ordered the agency to regulate importation of all lethal injection drugs. The governor announced the purchase of the drugs on May 14. His office has not directly answered whether the drugs had met FDA approval. Rather, the governor's spokesman has said that the drugs would be tested for purity by an independent laboratory after their arrival. Ricketts said Friday that he had no timetable for when the lethal injection drugs will arrive from India. Based on emails obtained through a public records request, the supplier said he would ship the drugs within 60 days. The attorney general would first have to request a death warrant for 1 of the inmates, which would have to be approved by the Nebraska Supreme Court. Chambers said the court would carefully consider any legal questions surrounding the lethal injection drugs before setting an execution date. "The governor and the attorney general aren't dealing with politicians now, they're dealing with judges who respect the law and the constitution," Chambers said.