COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- The Ohio Corrections Department says it will use pentobarbital for executions despite objections by the maker of the drug.
The department announced last week it would switch to pentobarbital for lethal injection after the manufacturer of sodium thiopental said it would no longer produce it to stop its use for executions.
But Lundbeck, the only American manufacturer of injectable pentobarbital, also objects, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reports.
"We are dedicated to saving people's lives. So to use this product to end lives goes against everything we are in business to do," said spokeswoman Sally Benjamin Young.
She said pentobarbital is used to treat epilepsy and other central nervous system conditions.
Lundbeck sent the state of Ohio a letter Wednesday asking it to not use pentobarbital for executions.
But corrections spokesman Carlo LoParo said there is plenty of pentobarbital available and Ohio will not honor the request.
"Ohio carefully researched pentobarbital. It is available, effective and humane," LoParo said. "And that is the drug we will move forward with in our court-ordered lethal injection process."
Ohio would be the first state to use pentobarbital alone for executions. It plans to use it first March 10 on death row inmate Johnnie Baston.
