A nationwide shortage of a commonly used imported drug used in capital punishment has prompted 15 states on Monday to urge the U.S. Justice Department to intervene . Led by Oklahoma officials , the move comes as the 33 states with the death penalty -- all of whom use lethal injection as the primary execution method -- struggle to preserve existing stock or search for legally acceptable chemical alternatives . A federal judge in March had blocked the importation of thiopental into states like Arizona , South Carolina , and Georgia saying it was a `` misbranded drug and an unapproved drug . '' Judge Richard Leon in Washington ordered state corrections departments to return suspected foreign-made thiopental to the Food and Drug Administration . The states called that a `` flawed decision '' and now want the FDA to appeal that judge 's decision , saying upcoming executions are being undermined . Attorneys General Scott Pruitt in Oklahoma and Marty Jackley in South Dakota are leading the legal effort . `` At the very core of the states ' police powers are their powers to enact laws to protect their citizens against violent crimes . As state attorneys general , we are tasked with enforcing those laws , including in instances where capital punishment is authorized for the most heinous of crimes , '' according to attorneys general from the 15 states . States argued the federal agency had routinely released the imported drug for executions , a practice suspended after the judge 's ruling . `` If the ( court ) decision is not overturned , we as state attorneys general will be forced to take actions to ensure execution by lethal injection remains a viable option . '' This comes after Texas officials disclosed Monday they only have enough drugs on hand for 23 more executions . The next scheduled execution in the U.S. is Bobby Hines in Texas on June 6 . Missouri earlier this month announced new protocols , and will use an entirely new drug . Propofol is a surgical anesthetic that in large doses can be administered fatally , but has never been used in the U.S. to put prisoners to death . Officials in Ohio , Texas and other states last year cited a nationwide shortage of sodium thiopental in their decisions to separately use pentobarbital , a barbiturate that has alternately been used to put animals to sleep . Some states use a single execution drug , others rely on a three-drug mixture or cocktail . Pentobarbital has become the new legal flashpoint over capital punishment . It was used in a U.S. execution for the first time in December 2010 , when it was administered as the first ingredient in a three-drug cocktail used in a lethal injection given to an Oklahoma inmate . It also has limited Food and Drug Administration approval in smaller doses for humans as a mild anesthetic and to treat some seizures . Many physicians say they no longer administer it to people for medical purposes . The second drug in the three-drug cocktail -- pancuronium bromide -- paralyzes all muscle movement . The third drug , potassium chloride , induces cardiac arrest and death . In 2009 , Ohio became the first state to perform an execution with a single drug , using a higher concentration of sodium thiopental . There were no reported complications and its use encouraged other states to follow suit . The nation 's only manufacturer of sodium thiopental since announced it was stopping production . Many capital punishment opponents claim sodium thiopental , which renders the prisoner unconscious , can wear off too quickly , and that some prisoners would actually be awake and able to feel pain as the procedure continued . The European manufacturers of both pentobarbital and sodium thiopental have opposed using their products for executions in the United States . Pentobarbital is widely available and has been used for physician-assisted suicide , including in Oregon , where the practice is legal in limited circumstances . Nationwide , death penalty use continues to decline . Connecticut recently became the latest state to ban capital punishment , although the 11 people on death row will remain there . Only 43 people were executed in the U.S. in 2011 , down three from the previous year , and a 56 % decline from 13 years ago , when nearly 100 people were put to death . Eighteen have been executed so far in 2012 .
There is nationwide shortage of lethal injection drugs . Federal judge in March had blocked the importation of thiopental . European drug makers oppose use of products for U.S. executions .