LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Nevada Department Of Corrections may not have the drugs needed to carry out several executions.
Last month, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson stated his office plans to seek execution warrants for three inmates who have been on death row for years.
Zane Floyd was convicted and sentenced to death for killing four people and wounding a fifth during an attack at a Las Vegas Albertsons in 1999.
Donald Sherman was convicted and sentenced to death for using a hammer to kill a retired doctor while he slept in 1994.
Sterling Atkins was convicted and sentenced to death for beating, sexually assaulting, and strangling a mother in North Las Vegas in 1994.
When looking at a new federal court filing from Wednesday, attorneys for the NDOC wrote "At the current time, all medications previously obtained through the Cardinal Health portal have expired, NDOC is not in the possess of any unexpired drugs that are contained in the Protocol, and NDOC has confirmed to [attorneys for Floyd, Sherman, and Atkins] that there is no plan to change the protocol to proceed with the use of expired medications."
According to court records, the NDOC is following protocols that were proposed in 2021, which include a three-drug lethal injection procedure "in which the drugs midazolam, fentanyl and cisatracurium" are used.
When looking at what these drugs are generally used for, the Mayo Clinic says midazolam is "used to produce sleepiness or drowsiness and relieve anxiety before surgery or certain procedures." Fentanyl injections are "used to relieve severe pain during and after surgery. It is also used with other medicines just before or during an operation to help the anesthetic work better." Cisatracurium injections are typically "used before and during surgery to provide muscle relaxation."
When looking at past cases that have used similar drugs, fentanyl has been used only once in an execution protocol. That was in 2018 in Nebraska.
The court filing states attorneys for the three inmates have offered a different protocol that would contain fentanyl, ketamine, and potassium (chloride or acetate) and not include cisatracurium.
Attorneys for the inmates also suggested using pentobarbital, which is typically used as a medical sedative and a medicine that helps with emergency seizure control, as an alternative means of execution.
Ketamine has not been used in an execution. The State of Utah used a protocol of ketamine, fentanyl, and potassium chloride in 2024. However, they changed their systems to a one-drug protocol using pentobarbital.
Why does the medication combo matter?
Advocates say it's because lethal injections aren't the most efficient ways to carry out executions.
"Execution is brutal. I think that a lot of the public think these guys are just kind of peacefully going to sleep in the death chamber and we know, from expert witnesses and anesthesiologists who have reviewed hundreds of autopsies, who have witnessed these executions, who know these drugs better than anybody in the world, what they say is to a medical certainty, these people are suffering," said journalist and author Gianna Toboni, who wrote a book called The Volunteer, which looks at the history of the death penalty in the United States, specifically through the eyes of former inmate Scott Dozier. "I think when we talk about firing squad and nitrogen gas, a lot of people are stunned like 'Oh my God. We're going back to these gruesome, brutal methods.' Guess what? Lethal injection is pretty brutal too. It has the highest rate of botched executions at 7%."
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When it comes to how the State of Nevada is obtaining the drugs that will be used for the proposed executions, "NDOC takes the position that contemplation of potential alternative sources for procuring medications are, at this time, protected by the deliberate process privilege, and therefore are not discoverable unless and until Director Dzurenda acquires medications to be used in the execution."
Toboni previously told me that is not unusual because there are several states across the U.S. who keep the processes for how they obtain execution drugs under wraps.
"A lot of states are going to what's called compounding pharmacies. Typically, these pharmacies are used for people who have allergies but need a specific medication. So they'll combine different ingredients in order to make a custom drug for somebody. These drugs are not FDA-approved. They're not in any way regulated by the federal government," Toboni explained.
Toboni worked with the NDOC a lot while researching her book and says she understands how difficult this process is.
"Now, I understand the challenge that the prison system is up against and James Dzurenda, by no means, had it easy. He was genuinely trying to get the drugs in order to do his job, to carry out that execution, and the fact of the matter is it's hard to get these drugs."
As for Nevada, according to the court filing, the Cardinal Health portal "continues to be the primary and preferred source for obtaining medications that may be used in executions", but "Director Dzurenda notes that he does not feel bound to pursue access to medications through the portal only and may pursue procurement of medications through other lawful channels."
When looking at the federal court docket, no future hearing dates have been set. However, if one is needed, the court filing says it will be scheduled for June 22, 2026.
Nevada has not carried out an execution since 2006.