Ohio to use veterinary drug in lethal injections

COLUMBUS (AP) — The state is switching its sole lethal injection drug to one commonly used to put animals to sleep as a shortage of the drug normally used for executions has worsened, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction announced today.

Beginning in March, the state execution team will use a single, powerful dose of pentobarbital, a common anesthetic used in surgeries and also by veterinarians to euthanize pets.

The drug replaces sodium thiopental, which was already scarce when its only U.S. manufacturer announced last week it would no longer produce it.

Ohio is following the lead of Oklahoma, which switched to pentobarbital last year and has since used it three times. Ohio, which uses only a single dose of anesthetic to execute inmates, however, would become the first state to use pentobarbital alone, without two additional drugs that paralyze inmates and stop their hearts.