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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The identity of companies that sell execution drugs to South Carolina would be kept secret under proposed legislation.
A bill introduced last week would add drug companies to the state's execution team and require that their identities remain secret. The proposal also would exempt the companies from state health and purchasing rules.
South Carolina has run out of one of its three lethal injection drugs and cannot find anyone willing to sell more. Corrections officials say they hope legislation such as this will make companies less reluctant to sell the drugs.
Similar fights are ongoing in other states, but courts have yet to halt an execution based on refusal to reveal a drug supplier.
Problems also have forced states to consider lethal-injection alternatives, including the electric chair and firing squads.
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