Killing with kindness: Why the FDA need not certify drugs used for execution safe and effective

G.J. Annas

American Journal of Public Health, 1985, vol. 75, issue 9, 1096-1099

Abstract: In 1977, Texas and Oklahoma became the first states to legalize administration of the death penalty by lethal injection; by late 1985, 14 other states had followed suit. Opponents of the death penalty petitioned the Food and Drug Administration in 1980 to declare drugs specified for use in executions as "not approved," and to prevent their use for that purpose. When the FDA denied their request, the petitioners took legal action against the agency, eventually arguing their case before the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled against them in Heckler v. Chaney (1985). Annas discusses the Court's action, which dealt only with the judicial reviewability under federal statute of the FDA's decision not to exercise its authority over the use of drugs in interstate commerce. He notes that, by dealing only with procedural issues, the Court avoided ruling on the death penalty itself.

Date: 1985
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:1985:75:9:1096-1099_6

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().