Kentucky to switch to a single drug for lethal injections - WDRB 41 Louisville - News, Weather, Sports Community

Kentucky to switch to a single drug for lethal injections

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP/WDRB) -- Kentucky is switching to a single drug to carry out inmate executions, becoming the latest state to drop a three-drug mixture for lethal injections.

New regulations filed Friday also give the state two drug options, either the anesthetic sodium thiopental or the barbiturate pentobarbital.

Kentucky joins at least seven other states that use one drug in lethal injections.  The change means the state could resume lethal injections later this year.

Earlier this year, a Franklin Circuit Court judge ordered the state to consider changing how it uses lethal injection to execute prisoners.  Judge Phillip Shepherd said the current method, which uses three drugs, may not be necessary.

He pointed out that other states have successfully used a single drug to execute condemned inmates.

Judge Shepherd halted all executions in Kentucky almost two years ago after inmates challenged the three-drug method.

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    Thanks to a grant from Norton Healthcare, this story and others are available in real-time closed captioning on WDRB.