What we do behind closed doors

Thanks to Grits for Breakfast we have a stunning insight into the mind of a pharmacist who had no idea what he was getting into when he agreed to produce pentobarbital for the death machine in Texas.

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.

The State of Texas didn't misrepresent the risk of exposure to Dr. Jasper Lovloi III.  No, Dr. Lovloi III was self-delusional. I can only assume that he was oblivious to the growing controversy over the death penalty. I can only assume that he was completely oblivious to the fact that the manufacturers of the drugs used to murder inmates were refusing to sell the drugs to states that carried out executions. The very fact that the state wanted to make the purchase on the QT should have set off alarm bells for Dr. Lovloi III.

The good doctor was more interested in pocketing cash than he was in upholding the oath he took when he became a pharmacist. He was willfully blind when it came to agreeing to compound the drug.

Now, as a result of the negative publicity he has received as a result of his decision to produce drugs for the death machine, Dr. Lovloi III asked the state to return the remaining vials of pentobarbital that he produced.

Sorry, Dr. Lovloi, you can't undo what's already been done. You had no problem making the drug and taking the money when you thought no one would find out what you did. Your problem with the backlash isn't that you provided the drug to the state so that they could kill an inmate - your problem is that someone found out about what you did.

If you want to know what someone's ethics really are, don't listen to what they say - watch what they do when no one else is looking. And just what did Dr. Lovloi III do when he didn't think anyone was watching?