FDA restricts use of device blamed for spreading uterine cancer, after news of patient deaths

Robotic surgery, including the use of an instrument known as a laparoscopic power morcellator, made it possible for many women to undergo hysterectomies with minimal pain and scarring and make a rapid recovery. But for Linda Interlichia, who turned out to have an aggressive form of cancer rather than the…

Nov 25, 2014 11:25 AM CST

Death by hacking? US investigates possible cybersecurity flaws in medical devices

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is reportedly investigating possible flaws in medical devices that could allow hackers to gain control of the equipment and injure or kill patients. Among the products under review are an infusion pump, implantable heart devices, medical imaging equipment and hospital networking systems, Reuters reports,…

Oct 23, 2014 6:15 AM CDT

Kozinski dissent: ‘Firing squads can be messy’ but they are better than lethal injection

A dispute over a death-row inmate’s claimed First Amendment right to information on execution drugs heads to the U.S. Supreme Court after a federal appeals court declined to hear the case en banc, spurring an unusual dissent calling for a return to the firing squad. The Arizona Attorney General’s office…

Jul 22, 2014 12:51 PM CDT

Seattle city attorney is among the first in line at Cannabis City

Five marijuana stores opened in Washington state on Tuesday, including Cannabis City, where Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes was the fourth person in line. Holmes bought two two-gram bags of OG pearl, report Q13Fox, HeraldNet and the Seattle Times. “I’m keeping one bag for posterity,” he told Q13Fox, “and one…

Jul 9, 2014 12:05 PM CDT

Nationwide lethal-injection drug shortage forces states to experiment with executions

Due to a nationwide shortage of approved lethal injection drugs, states have had to scramble to come up with ways to execute inmates. According to the Washington Post, Tuesday’s botched execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma was just one example of a state having to improvise due to a lack…

May 1, 2014 7:52 PM CDT

Judge strikes Oklahoma lethal injection law because source of drugs is secret

An Oklahoma judge struck the state’s lethal injection law as unconstitutional Wednesday, saying that it violated due process because it keeps secret from inmates the sources of drugs used in executions. The ruling by Oklahoma County District Judge Patricia Parrish follows recent adverse reactions by dying inmates during executions in…

Mar 26, 2014 6:10 PM CDT

Oklahoma delays two executions due to lack of drugs needed for lethal injection

A lack of lethal injection drugs has led to the postponement, until next month, of two scheduled Oklahoma executions. Sidestepping, at least for now, constitutional claims by two convicted murderers that they are entitled to know the source of the drugs to be used in their executions, a state appeals…

Mar 18, 2014 11:15 PM CDT

States are resorting to elaborate steps to obtain lethal injection drugs, report says

Death penalty states are taking elaborate steps to secure drugs for use in lethal injections, USA Today reports. Prison officials from one state traveled to another to exchange muscle relaxants for sedatives; prison officials in another state drove to an out-of-state pharmacy with $11,000 in cash to buy execution drugs;…

Mar 10, 2014 7:33 PM CDT

States keep mum on where lethal injection drugs are made

Mar 1, 2014 10:19 AM CST

After four years without an execution, Tennessee seeks dates for 10 lethal injections

Tennessee has executed only six inmates since 1960 and none since 2009. Now its attorney general wants execution dates set for 10 condemned killers. Attorney General Robert Cooper asked the state supreme court to set the dates in “an unprecedented push to carry out the death penalty,” the Tennessean reports.…

Dec 5, 2013 1:33 PM CST

DC Circuit blocks import of lethal injection drug

A federal appeals court has upheld a court order that blocks importation of the lethal injection drug sodium thiopental, a sedative used to anesthetize inmates before they receive drugs that cause death. The U.S. Court of Appeals said the Food and Drug Administration should not have allowed states to import…

Jul 24, 2013 1:51 PM CDT

In ‘truly bizarre’ situation, FDA, DOJ and federal judge differ on ‘Plan B’ pill sale to teens

In the latest round of a hard-fought political battle over the issue of whether the so-called morning-after birth control pill should be available without a prescription to 15- and 16-year-olds, a federal regulatory agency has told pharmacies they are free to sell one brand, Plan B One-Step, over the counter,…

May 2, 2013 4:15 PM CDT

Judge Issues Tentative Decision Tossing California Lethal Injection Procedure

A California judge issued a tentative decision on Thursday finding prison officials failed to follow the law when adopting new state procedures for lethal injection. If the judge’s decision is upheld, the Associated Press reports, it will “throw California’s stalled capital punishment system into further doubt.” Judge Faye D’Opal of…

Dec 16, 2011 1:57 PM CST

HHS Secty Nixes FDA’s OK of Nonprescription Sale of Plan B Emergency Contraceptive to Teens Under 17

The Food and Drug Administration was ready to approve a Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. proposal to sell the company’s Plan B One-Step emergency contraceptive to girls under age 17 over the counter, without a prescription. But, in an unusual move, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today blocked the…

Dec 8, 2011 12:32 AM CST

Swiss Drug Maker Wants No Part of Nebraska’s Lethal Injection Regime

A Swiss drug company has asked Nebraska officials to return a drug it made that the state plans to use for the execution of death row inmates. The CEO of Naari says the company did not supply the drug to the state and would never support its use in a…

Nov 30, 2011 8:09 PM CST