Lawsuit seeks source of drugs to be used in Pennsylvania execution

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Lawsuit seeks source of drugs to be used in Pennsylvania execution

By Daniel Kelley PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - In the wake of botched lethal injections in other states, the ACLU and four newspapers have sued Pennsylvania's prison system to unseal records on the drugs that will be used in an execution later this month, the state's first in 15 years. The lawsuit seeks to uncover how lethal injection drugs used by the Department of Corrections are tested and supplied, since a shortage of traditional execution drugs has meant a bigger role for so-called compounding pharmacies. “It is set by legislation that those things are considered confidential,” said Susan Bensinger, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. Information about the suppliers was released under seal to lawyers, denying access to reporters.  The motion, filed on Thursday by the ACLU, Philadelphia's City Paper, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Guardian U.S., says keeping the information confidential violates the first amendment rights of the newspapers.

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