Ohio lawmakers approve lethal-injection secrecy law

Ohio legislators have approved a bill that would shield the identities of pharmacies and pharmacists that compound lethal injection drugs used in executions. The bill has been sent to Republican Gov. John Kasich, who is expected to sign it.

The law would prevent, for 20 years, the disclosure of the names of pharmacies that compound drugs used in lethal injections. It also shields the identities of members of the execution team and physicians.

To the compounder of the Oklahoma execution drug: Come out of the shadows

Several states, including Arizona, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania, have passed laws to conceal the source of drugs and the people involved in executions. The laws are designed to protect those involved in executions from harassment and threats.

Because large pharmaceutical companies will no longer sell drugs for the purpose of lethal injections, prison officials throughout the country say they can only obtain the drugs if the identities of compounders are shielded.

In Oklahoma, earlier this year, death penalty opponents from Missouri held a vigil at a Tulsa pharmacy that had been identified as a drug supplier for Missouri’s executions.

The executive director of Ohioans to Stop Executions, Kevin Werner, said there is no evidence that pharmacists or pharmacies involved in compounding drugs for lethal injections have been threatened or harassed. “The allegations of harassment by anti-death-penalty advocates toward pharmacists and others involved in the execution process are not true,” he told the Columbus Dispatch.