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Anti-death penalty group wants probe of San Antonio company that made Texas' execution drug

SA-based Rite-Away supplied the state with execution drugs even though the company faced issues with state and federal regulators, according to an NPR story.

By Sanford Nowlin on Thu, Jul 11, 2024 at 11:27 am

Shutterstock / felipe caparros

Texas uses a sedative called pentobarbital in its execution. A NPR investigation reveals that the state purchased the drug from a San Antonio compounding pharmacy.

Death penalty opponents are calling for a federal investigation of a San Antonio-based compounding pharmacy that spent years secretly supplying Texas with the drug its prisons use to execute prisoners, according to a recent NPR investigation.

Citing documents from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), NPR reported Wednesday that San Antonio's Rite-Away Pharmacy and Medical Supply provided the sedative pentobarbital to the state from 2019 through at least 2023.

The state and Rite-Away maintained that supply relationship even though the Texas State Board of Pharmacy found that the pharmacy violated more than a dozen rules over the past decade, including some related to sterile drug preparation, according to NPR.

What's more, Rite-Away agreed to pay a $275,000 penalty after federal regulators filed a lawsuit alleging the company "fueled and profited from the opioid epidemic for years," NPR reports. Although one person reportedly died of an overdose from fentanyl provided by the pharmacy, the business denied liability when it agreed to its payout with the feds, according to NPR.

Estelle Hebron-Jones, special projects director for Texas Defender Service, a leading anti-death penalty organization, told the Current that Rite-Away's history should have raised red flags for the TDCJ. She wants to see both the DEA and state officials look into the relationship to see if it violates federal and state laws.

"What this shows is that when it comes to the death penalty, reputable pharmacies don't want to compound these drugs," Hebron-Jones said. "As a result, Texas has turned to dodgy suppliers."

The Current was unable to reach Rite-Away officials Thursday morning for comment. However, in comments to NPR, the pharmacy's owner, Rohit Chaudhary, said the compounding of execution drugs was primarily handled by a pharmacist no longer employed by the company.

Even though Chaudhary downplayed his involvement, Texas executed more than 20 people during the time Rite-Away provided the drug, according to the investigation.

Hebron-Jones said Texas' years of secrecy about how it obtains execution drugs should concern both taxpayers and lawmakers. The company provided a Schedule II controlled substance to TDCJ even though the state didn't have a valid prescription, she added.

"The situation raises larger questions about what's being done with the state's tax dollars and who those dollars are supplying," Hebron-Jones said.

Compounding pharmacies face less regulatory oversight than regular pharmacies, according to the NPR investigation. Indeed, the FDA doesn't do safety inspections on small batches of drugs such pharmacies produce before they're delivered to patients, according to the media outlet.

Texas plans to execute prisoner Ruben Gutierrez with pentobarbital on July 16, according to NPR. TDCJ officials declined to tell the news organization whether a drug supplied by Rite-Away would be used in that execution.

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