Death drugs

Jury recommends death for Gregory

By FRANK FERNANDEZ, Staff writer

  March 10, 2011 12:05 AM
Death drugs
Currently, 394 inmates are sitting on Florida's death row.
The state is rewriting its lethal injection procedure after Illinois-based Hospira Inc. outsourced production of Pentothal to Italy, according to news accounts. Italy then objected to the drug being exported for executions.
The state is considering using Pentobarbital, Gretl Plessinger, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections, wrote in an e-mail last week.
"There are no execution dates set at this time, but we will be prepared to carry out a humane and competent execution when Governor Scott signs a death warrant," Plessinger wrote.
Pentobarbital is more typically used for euthanizing animals, according to news accounts. Oklahoma uses the drug for its executions and Ohio recently announced it would begin using Pentobarbital to replace Pentothal.
Death row inmates in Florida have had a choice since 2000 on the execution method: lethal injection or the electric chair.
"No inmates have chosen the electric chair since lethal injection began," Plessinger wrote.

More: Department of Corrections