A Missouri inmate on death row has accused state prison officials of holding a cache of expired drugs used for lethal injections.
According to a complaint filed by Herbert Smulls' attorney on Friday, the drugs are being sent from a pharmacy in Oklahoma that isn't authorized to provide material in the neighboring state, the Associated Press reported. Additionally, officials are reportedly storing the drugs improperly.
Smulls' attorney submitted the paperwork to the Oklahoma State Board of Pharmacy on Friday, urging authorities to issue a recall on "expired, unsafe" supplies of pentobarbital. The Oklahoma pharmacy that's allegedly doing business with Missouri without the proper licensing hasn't yet been identified, AP reported.
The complaint states that officials from the Oklahoma pharmacy incorrectly instructed state authorities to keep the sedative at room temperature.
According to state records, Missouri gave fatal doses of pentobarbital to two death row inmates. Later documentation shows that the drug had expired between eight and ten days prior to injection.
This isn't the first time in recent past that Missouri has encountered issues with lethal injection drugs.
The state's Department of Corrections announced in October 2013 that it would return a stock of propofol an anesthetic used for executions of death row inmates, due to a "system failure."
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