Drugmaker asked Arkansas not to use drug in executions

A drugmaker asked Arkansas officials not to purchase its products for executions months before the state accepted a third-party "donation" of potassium chloride as one of three drugs to use in lethal injections, according to letters obtained by The Associated Press.

Fresenius Kabi USA wrote to Department of Correction Director Wendy Kelley and other officials last July saying the company was aware Arkansas wanted to buy drugs to carry out executions and asking the state not to violate contracts between Fresenius and its distributors that forbid the distributors from selling the drugmaker's products for use in capital punishment.

Legal and pharmaceutical experts said the methods Arkansas used to obtain the potassium chloride, midazolam and vecuronium bromide to resume carrying out its first executions since 2005 raise concerns about the state's respect for contracts between private businesses.

The ruling came in an unprecedented lawsuit from drug distributor McKesson Corp., which alleged state officials misled the company when purchasing its supply of vecuronium bromide last July by using a physician's license number that implied the drug would be used only for medically approved purposes.

According to Fresenius' July letter, use of its drugs in executions could result in stricter regulations from the European Union, which bans the export of drugs used in lethal injections.