Nebraska's corrections department was only able to buy potassium chloride in 2015 because one of its US distributors made a mistake, said Fresenius Kabi spokesman Matt Kuhn.
His comments came after The Associated Press asked whether company officials were aware that the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services had bought their product for use as a lethal injection drug.
The AP identified the manufacturer through an open records request, but a bill slated for debate in the Legislature would allow the state to hide the identities of its suppliers.
"We expressed our concerns and the distributor requested the (corrections department) return the product, which did not occur."
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"Our products are developed and approved solely for patient care, and we expressly restrict the sale of our products for use in lethal injection," he said.
Potassium chloride was the only lethal injection drug Nebraska prison officials possessed before Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts approved a new protocol in January. The new rules give state corrections director Scott Frakes broad authority to decide which drugs to purchase, so he is no longer bound to use potassium chloride.
Death penalty opponents said the company's statement shows the importance of requiring the state to disclose its suppliers. The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska, a leading critic of capital punishment, called on lawmakers to reject the push for secrecy and launch an investigation.
The company's statement "underscores the need to honor Nebraska's strong tradition of open government and the need to ensure transparency in the death penalty process."
Death penalty supporters said companies shouldn't dictate how their products are used once they're sold and blamed anti-death penalty activists for pressuring companies to stop selling drugs with legitimate medical purposes.
Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said shield laws make it easier for corrections departments to mislead distributors about how they will use the drugs and helps distributors violate their contractual agreements not to sell drugs to prisons.
The Swiss company said the sodium thiopental Nebraska purchased through an India-based middleman was a sample intended to be used as an anesthetic in Zambia. Corrections officials under a previous administration insisted they had purchased the drug in a legitimate matter.
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