Attorneys representing Andrew DeYoung, a death row inmate in Georgia, have accused the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) of violating federal law by unlawfully importing an execution drug from a small pharmaceutical distributor in London, England--Dream Pharma Ltd. (pictured). The allegations are outlined in a letter delivered to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Feb. 24 and describe an attempt by the corrections agency to circumvent the law to secure sodium thiopental from foreign sources in the face of a national shortage of the drug. Records show that the GDC is not registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration as an importer and did not file a declaration when it imported drugs from the distributor in July 2010. John Bentivoglio, a partner with Skadden, Arps in Washington, D.C., and former U.S. Associate Deputy Attorney General, wrote to Holder, calling for an investigation: “The GDC’s actions call into question the legality and integrity of the process the department uses to administer lethal injections. . . . Given these potential violations of federal law and the implications they raise with respect to pending executions in Georgia, I respectfully urge you to direct appropriate agencies within your department to conduct a prompt and thorough investigation of these issues.”
Click on photo to enlarge
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has seized Georgia's foreign supply of sodium thiopental, saying it will hold the drug while it investigates whether the Department of Corrections imported the drug legally. In February, attorneys representing Georgia death row inmate Andrew DeYoung sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder alleging that Georgia had violated the federal Controlled Substances Act "by failing to register as an importer of the controlled substance" sodium thiopental. Georgia reportedly obtained its supply of sodium thiopental from a small pharmaceutical company, Dream Pharma, in Great Britain. Five other states also acquired a supply of the drug in England. 
