Missouri Department of Corrections Adopts New Drug for Execution Protocol

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Department of Corrections announced today that it has adopted a new one-drug execution protocol, using pentobarbital, which will be administered intravenously. This replaces propofol, which the department had intended to use in future executions. The change became necessary due to concerns about the use of propofol for this purpose.

The department also announced that it has added a compounding pharmacy to its execution team. The compounding pharmacy will be responsible for providing pentobarbital for executions carried out under the new protocol.

The next execution in Missouri — that of offender Joseph Paul Franklin — is scheduled for Nov. 20, 2013. Franklin was sentenced to death for the October 1977 murder of Gerald Gordon in St. Louis.

This press release was provided by the Missouri Department of Corrections.