Fresenius Kabi Applauds Missouri Governor for Preventing National Shortage of Anesthesia Drug
Matt KuhnFresenius Kabi847-220-3033orGeoffrey D. Fenton847-550-2321
Fresenius Kabi praised Missouri Governor Jay Nixon today on his decision to not use Propofol in executions. His decision helps to avert a national shortage of Propofol, one of the world’s most widely used anesthesia drugs.
“I want to thank Governor Nixon for his leadership on this important issue,” said John Ducker, CEO, Fresenius Kabi USA. “This is a decision that will be welcomed by the medical community and patients nationwide who were deeply concerned about the potential of a drug shortage. We are hopeful other states follow Governor Nixon’s lead on this vital matter of public health.”
The state of Missouri was planning to use Propofol in two scheduled executions, one on October 23, 2013 and another on November 20, 2013. This would have been the first-ever use of Propofol in an execution, and it could have led to a severe shortage of this drug that would have affected millions of patients nationwide.
Fresenius Kabi takes no position on capital punishment, but the company objects to the use of Propofol in lethal injection. Such use is contrary to the FDA-approved indications for Propofol and would lead the European Union (EU), where about 90 percent of the drug is manufactured, to impose severe restrictions on its export to the United States. To learn more about this issue, please visit .
In the United States alone, Propofol is administered some 50 million times annually in approximately 15,000 hospitals, clinics and other health care facilities.
The Missouri Society of Anesthesiologists and other professional medical organizations had expressed their opposition to Missouri’s plans.
“At Fresenius Kabi, everything we do has one ultimate purpose: to put lifesaving medicines and technologies in the hands of people who take care of patients,” Ducker said. “We have and will continue to do everything in our power to make Propofol available to health care providers.”
Fresenius Kabi () is a global health care company that focuses on pharmaceuticals and medical devices used to care for critically and chronically ill patients inside and outside the hospital. The company’s products include intravenous specialty and generic medicines, infusion therapies, clinical nutrition and related medical devices.