Tennessee Receives Execution Drug Shipment

It appears Tennessee has received an overseas shipment of the death penalty drug that's in short supply across the nation.

The Associated Press reported the state received at least one shipment of sodium thiopental, apparently from a British pharmaceutical company.

Several states are running low on the drug, and the Food and Drug Administration ruled last week it would not block imports of the execution drug.

All of Tennessee's scheduled executions are on hold until hearings move forward on whether the state's new lethal injection procedures are constitutional.

Source: WSMV News, January 11, 2011