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Death Penalty Clinic said a one-drug method can lessen the risk of pain and suffering by removing the paralytic agent and potassium chloride from the mix. "On the other hand," she said, "in a one-drug procedure, needless to say, the one drug matters."
• McCracken also wonders where some states are getting the drug. Prison supplies of the only form of pentobarbital approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in humans have shrunk after the manufacturer said it would prevent its use in executions.
• A July court filing suggests South Dakota will obtain its pentobarbital through a compounding pharmacy. Such pharmacies custom-mix solutions, creams and other medications in doses or forms that generally aren't commercially available. The pharmacy's identity and location have been sealed by the court.
• The FDA considers compounding pharmacy products unapproved drugs and does not verify their safety or effectiveness.
• McCracken said she'd be concerned about the source of the active pharmaceutical ingredient, how it will be compounded, by whom, in what form, and whether the pharmacy would do a good job. "All of that comes together to say, 'Will the final product be what it purports to be: a pure, effective and safe form of this anesthetic drug?'" she said.
• Dieter said pentobarbital acts more slowly than sodium thiopental, and staffers running the IVs need to be trained on what dosage is needed, how long it's going to take and what adverse reactions might occur depending on an inmate's medical history.
• "It is sort of an off-the-shelf use. So we're into a realm where few people know the answers to these kinds of questions like how long will it take and what's the inmate feeling and when," he said.
• Authorities say Moeller kidnapped O'Connell from a Sioux Falls convenience store, drove her to a secluded area near the Big Sioux River, then raped and killed her. Her naked body was found the next day. She had been stabbed and her throat was slashed.
• McCracken said the questions surrounding Moeller's execution deal with constitutionality issues, and such a legal challenge cannot simply be waived.
• "It does seem to be a bigger question than about just one prisoner," she said.
•

• DEADWOOD, S.D. (AP) -- South Dakota's Game, Fish and Parks Commission

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