Texas Prisons Illegally Experimenting With Secret Execution Drugs

There is speculation that officials from the Texas Department of Corrections intend to execute inmates with experimental drugs that have not been approved to be administered inside the walls of Texas’ death chambers.

So far, three death row inmates have come forward and accused prison officials of plans to utilize their execution dates as a means to experiment with new lethal injection drugs.

According to a lawsuit filed by inmates, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is experimenting with three drugs: propofol, midazolam and hydromorphone, none of which have been approved by the manufactures for the use in executions.

Texas prison officials did not comment on the allegations presented in the lawsuit, but they did say that they have enough stock of pentobarbital, the drug used in Texas executions for the past year, to carry out the necessary lethal injections until sometime next year.

Yet, the lawsuit alleges that a shortage of that drug has led to corrections officials using, "drugs and methods of execution that have never been used before, by any state. Some are banned for use in animal euthanasia," and run a "substantial risk of grave pain.”

The lawsuit indicates that prison officials are conspiring with local hospitals to obtain these experimental drugs that cannot be purchased by the manufacturer for the purpose of performing executions.