Our product is being misused.

Our product is being misused.

What has Lundbeck done to prevent the misuse?

In our view the misuse of our product is a result of laws and social practices that we have little prospect of changing. In situations like this, the UN guidance states that failure to sell into certain markets could be ethically wrong if the product in the majority of its use scenarios offers broader human and social benefits when used in the way in which it is intended. We believe this to be established as a fact with respect to pentobarbital.

Therefore we have focused our efforts on assessing ways to prevent the distribution of pentobarbital for use in capital punishment.

Objections directly to the states

We have gone straight to the Departments of Correction in the states using or considering the use of pentobarbital for lethal injection. To date, we have sent letters to 11 states strongly stating our objection to their use of our product to end lives, since it contradicts everything we are in business to do, namely provide therapies that help improve people’s lives. Thus far, we have sent letters to Governors and the Departments of Correction in the following states: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

Further, we have emphasized to the states that the use of pentobarbital outside of the approved labelling has not been established.