Based on the phone calls I had with Erica Minor of TDCJ regarding its request for these drugs, including statements she made to me, it was my belief that this information would be kept on the 'down low' and that it was unlikely that it would be discovered that my pharmacy provided these drugs. Based on Ms. Minor's requests, I took steps to ensure it would be private. However, the State of Texas misrepresented this fact because my name and the name of my pharmacy are posted all over the internet. Now that this information has been made public, I find myself in the middle of a firestorm that I was not advised of and did not bargain for. Had I known that this information would be made public, which the State implied it would not, I never would have agreed to provide the drugs to TDCJ.As a result of this "firestorm," wrote Lovoi, "I must demand that TDCJ immediately return the vials of compounded pentobarbital in exchange for a refund. ... Otherwise I may have to ask the Court in the prisoners' lawsuit to consider my concerns."
Apparently the pharmacist didn't understand the Texas Public Information Act and TDCJ didn't fully explain it to him; these revelations were as predictable as the sunrise. That said, I don't feel sorry for Mr. Lovoi. The fact that he wanted assurances that a transaction to assist in killing people would be kept on the "down low" speaks poorly of both him and the state. If you'd be embarrassed by your participation in an activity, that's a good argument for staying out of it.
I betcha the state refuses to give the drugs back. Why would they care if Mr. Lovoi feels embarrassed or betrayed? They got what they wanted out of the deal.
RELATED: As death drug dwindle, why not use firing squads for Texas executions?
UPDATE: As predicted, the Austin Statesman reports that the state refuses to give back the drugs. MORE: From Paul Kennedy. AND MORE: The Houston Chronicle now reports that a Chicago pharmacy has asked TDCJ to return drugs that were purchased for executions but have never before been tested or used for those purposes.
.jpg)
10 comments:
Interesting. I'd like to read that bid proposal language. How bizarre.
"I betcha the state refuses to give the drugs back."
I won't take that bet. I would probably lose.
The card laid is the card played...
I'm surprised they tell the pharmacy that is what they are doing with the drug, I mean it's kind of obvious. But aren't the courts supposed to keep people from feeling like they were directly involved with an execution.
Yeah, Grits, funny how you people always yap about the "rule of law" etc. etc., but you're totally cool with harassment of someone who, after all, is helping people get justice.
How is Grits harassing anyone? When you sign your name to a public document you can't get mad because the document gets made....public, right? The Rx guy just didn't think he'd get caught. Now he did, so I hope he burns and his business gets shut down.
There's no "harassment" here, 12:17 - he sent the letter, it's a public record once TDCJ receives it, and I just reported it. How does any of that show disrespect for the "rule of law"?
@2:59, I decidedly don't hope the guy "burns" or his business is shut down. None of this is personal. OTOH, fact is he made his own bed and now must lie in it. A wiser man would have considered some of the implications for helping kill people on the "down low" before, not after, taking TDCJ's money.
This is pretty embarrassing.
Lovoi, the pharmacist, needs to check his idioms or get a better attorney to help him write letters. The "down low" means something entirely different than keeping something on the low down.
I think he used the right idiom, 1:25, assuming he meant he thought the information wouldn't get out. See the first definition in the relevant Wikipedia entry, "Keeping an act, action or some other piece of information a secret."
Post a Comment