Letter
[Correspondence] An open letter to Michael Ball, Chief Executive of Hospira Pharmaceuticals – Response from Hospira
Hospira shares the concern over improper use of our drugs in US executions. Hospira has long communicated that we do not support the use of any of our products in lethal injections—a use that is clearly outside the licensing approved by the Food and Drug Administration and completely counter to our company vision of advancing wellness. In fact, over the years, Hospira has regularly written to every US state to make clear that we oppose the use of our drugs, including pancuronium bromide, in executions, and we have stated our opposition publicly through the media innumerable times.
[Correspondence] An open letter to Michael Ball, Chief Executive of Hospira Pharmaceuticals
Earlier this year, your company determined that you could not prevent the diversion of the use of your company's product, thiopental, for use in capital punishment, so you stopped producing it completely. This resulted in US states that carry out the death penalty ultimately switching to pentobarbital, manufactured by Lundbeck. Lundbeck, initially, were hesitant to act, but, after a critical letter, took decisive action in the form of a restricted distribution system to tighten up their supply chain to ensure that pentobarbital was used only for legitimate clinical purposes.
Patterns of new DNA letter in brain suggest distinct function
In 2009, the DNA alphabet expanded. Scientists discovered that an extra letter or "sixth nucleotide" was surprisingly abundant in DNA from stem cells and brain cells. Now, researchers have mapped the patterns formed by that letter in the brains of mice, observing how its pattern of distribution in the genome changes during development and aging.