The Missouri Department of Corrections is sending a shipment of propofol back to the distributor, 11 months after the company urgently requested for the anesthetic to be returned.
Missouri plans to be the first state to use propofol in an execution on Oct. 23. The department says in a news release Wednesday that it has remaining inventory, but it doesn't say if enough remains for two executions scheduled in the coming weeks.
The propofol supplied by Morris & Dickson of Shreveport, La., was made by Fresenius Kabi of Germany. Morris & Dickson wrote to the corrections department on Nov. 2 of last years, saying the sale was a mistake.
Fresenius Kabi prohibits distribution of propofol to prisons because the anti-death penalty European Union could limit export of any drug used in an execution. Meanwhile, an attorney for condemned killer Allen Nicklasson is asking the Missouri Supreme Court for a stay of execution, citing concerns about Missouri's planned use of propofol.
