Okla. pharmacy responds to Mo. execution drug suit

An Oklahoma pharmacy has submitted a sealed response to a Missouri death row inmate’s lawsuit accusing it of illegally providing Missouri with a made-to-order drug to be used in his lethal injection.

The Apothecary Shoppe filed its response to Michael Taylor’s lawsuit last week after getting permission from U.S. District Judge Terrence Kern to keep its response sealed. Kern has scheduled a Tuesday hearing in Tulsa to weigh arguments about whether it should remain sealed.

Taylor says the Tulsa pharmacy is compounding pentobarbital and illegally selling it out of state. The drug’s sole licensed manufacturer refuses to sell it for use in executions.

The pharmacy hasn’t acknowledged that it supplies the drug, citing a Missouri law barring the disclosure of the names of those on the state’s execution team.