Louisiana has run out of their existing supply of the drug forcing them to postpone the execution of Christopher Sepulvado.  Scrambling to find a solution, the Louisiana Department of Public safety and Corrections decided to use a new lethal combination of Midazolam, a sedative, and Hydromorphone a Painkiller.
However, Sepulvado’s  lawyers have raised concerns about the affects the drug may have. 
Pharmacist Wayne Camp says, “your heart could forget to pump, and your lungs could forget to breathe… and you just go to sleep.”
The family of an Ohio man executed with a similar combination of drugs is now suing the state and the drug company. They allege that he was a victim of cruel and unusual punishment after he convulsed in pain for over 20 minutes before dying.
All inmates are constitutionally protected against cruel and unusual punishment. Public Defender Colette M. Greggs defines cruel and unusual punishment as causing someone undue stress or harm.
As the supply of lethal injection drugs dwindle nationwide, the methods of capital punishment state by state will have to be revisited.