INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Attorneys for an Indiana death row prisoner scheduled to be executed Thursday are asking Gov. Mike Braun to grant a reprieve after the state purchased $275,000 in lethal injection drugs from a pharmacy facing possible license suspension over alleged violations of pharmaceutical safety standards.
In a renewed reprieve application submitted Monday, Nov. 2, attorneys for Jeffrey Weisheit raised concerns about the state’s procurement of execution drugs, the qualifications of personnel responsible for administering lethal injections and the adequacy of procedures intended to address complications during executions.
Weisheit is scheduled to be executed before sunrise Nov. 5, four days before the Indiana Board of Pharmacy is scheduled to consider whether to suspend the license of Pharmaneek Inc., an Indianapolis pharmacy identified in the application as the state’s supplier of pentobarbital.
The 43-page application, submitted by attorneys Joseph J. Perkovich, David P. Voisin and Joseph C. Welling of Phillips Black, asks Braun to temporarily halt the execution and authorize an independent review of Indiana’s lethal injection procedures.
The request comes amid increased scrutiny of lethal injection practices following execution failures in Tennessee, where Gov. Bill Lee temporarily suspended executions after an unsuccessful attempt to execute Christa Pike in September.
According to the application, Indiana’s Department of Correction purchased $275,000 in pentobarbital from Pharmaneek despite ongoing regulatory proceedings involving the pharmacy.
The Indiana Attorney General’s Office filed an administrative complaint against Pharmaneek in November 2025, alleging violations that included the sale of adulterated drugs and failure to maintain sanitary premises.
State inspections identified expired medications, improperly labeled containers, inadequate temperature monitoring and deficiencies in pharmaceutical storage and handling, according to records cited in the filing.
The pharmacy subsequently entered into a settlement with the Indiana Board of Pharmacy that placed its license on indefinite probation beginning March 31, 2026, and restricted its ability to compound medications.
The reprieve application alleges that Pharmaneek continued compounding medications despite those restrictions, prompting additional regulatory action.
The Board of Pharmacy issued an order in September requiring the company to explain why its license should not be suspended on an emergency basis or subjected to further sanctions. A hearing originally scheduled for October was postponed until Nov. 9.
The application also cites a Food and Drug Administration inspection conducted between March 30 and April 8 that identified deficiencies in the pharmacy’s drug production and storage practices.
According to the FDA findings reproduced in the application, hazardous medications were produced without adequate safeguards against cross-contamination, and the facility failed to verify that water used in pharmaceutical production met appropriate quality standards.
Inspectors also documented deteriorating physical conditions that created potential contamination risks, including damaged ceiling structures that exposed drug preparation areas to environmental contaminants.
The application does not establish that the specific pentobarbital purchased for Weisheit’s execution is contaminated. Attorneys instead argue that the pharmacy’s regulatory history raises questions about the safety and reliability of drugs supplied for executions.
“It is alarming that the state purchased these drugs from a pharmacy it is trying to shut down due to major safety issues in the storage and management of drugs,” Perkovich said in a statement released Monday.
“The governor should pause executions and investigate its provider to ensure that execution drugs meet the basic standards required by law.”
The attorneys also questioned the cost of Indiana’s lethal injection drugs.
According to the application, the Department of Correction paid $275,000 for a quantity of pentobarbital that would ordinarily cost approximately $15,120 to $16,250 based on published pharmaceutical pricing benchmarks.
The filing estimates that Indiana paid roughly 17 times the benchmark price for the medication.
Attorneys contend that the difference reflects the state’s reliance on secondary distribution channels outside those authorized by pharmaceutical manufacturers.
The application identifies Sagent Pharmaceuticals and Hikma Pharmaceuticals as the two domestic commercial manufacturers of pentobarbital and notes that both companies maintain policies prohibiting their products from being used in executions.
Those restrictions have complicated states’ efforts to obtain lethal injection drugs through conventional pharmaceutical distribution systems.
The attorneys argue that purchasing drugs through secondary suppliers makes it more difficult to verify their origin, storage conditions and chain of custody.
The application also states that, as of Nov. 2, attorneys had been informed that the Indiana Department of Correction had not received the purchased pentobarbital.
The filing raises the possibility that the state could cancel the purchase before receiving the drugs, although it does not establish whether the department has taken steps to do so.
Separate from the procurement concerns, the application challenges Indiana’s procedures for establishing intravenous access during executions.
Indiana’s execution directive provides for an IV team drawn from correctional personnel but does not expressly require members to have prior medical certification or experience inserting intravenous lines, according to the filing.
The attorneys contrast those provisions with Tennessee’s written execution protocol, which requires IV team members to possess specified medical qualifications or relevant certification.
The application argues that intravenous access is a critical component of lethal injection procedures because improperly inserted lines can prevent the medication from entering the bloodstream as intended.
One potential complication is extravasation, which occurs when an injected substance leaks from a blood vessel into surrounding tissue.
The attorneys cite medical evidence indicating that extravasation involving pentobarbital can cause significant pain and interfere with the intended administration of the drug.
The filing also challenges Indiana’s contingency procedures for situations in which execution personnel cannot establish adequate intravenous access.
According to the application, the state’s directive permits a physician to attempt central venous access when conventional intravenous placement fails but does not adequately address circumstances in which that procedure is unsuccessful.
The attorneys point to recent execution failures in Tennessee as examples of complications that can arise during lethal injections.
In May 2026, Tennessee officials halted an attempt to execute Tony Carruthers after personnel were unable to establish sufficient intravenous access.
The application describes repeated attempts to insert intravenous lines, including efforts by a physician to establish central access, before the procedure was abandoned.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee subsequently granted Carruthers a one-year reprieve.
The filing also discusses the September attempted execution of Christa Pike, who survived the administration of lethal injection drugs and remained in a coma for approximately a week before regaining consciousness, according to the application.
Following that incident, Lee ordered an independent review of Tennessee’s execution procedures and temporarily halted further executions.
Weisheit’s attorneys contend that the Tennessee incidents demonstrate the need for Indiana to examine its own procedures before conducting another execution.
The application also raises questions about the physical effects of pentobarbital during executions.
Citing medical research and postmortem examinations, the attorneys argue that lethal injections using pentobarbital may cause pulmonary edema, a condition in which fluid accumulates in the lungs.
The filing references medical opinions suggesting that individuals undergoing lethal injection may experience pain or sensations associated with suffocation before losing consciousness.
Those claims are presented as part of the attorneys’ challenge to Indiana’s execution procedures and have not been independently established in Weisheit’s case.
The application further addresses public access to executions, arguing that Indiana’s restrictions on media witnesses limit independent oversight of the process.
Under Indiana law, a person facing execution may designate five witnesses, but the state does not provide separate witness positions specifically for members of the news media.
The attorneys cite the 2026 federal appellate decision Associated Press v. Neal, in which a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld Indiana’s restrictions on press access to executions.
In dissent, Judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi argued that public observation of executions serves constitutional interests involving government accountability and protection against cruel and unusual punishment.
“A government exercises its greatest power when it ends a person’s life,” Jackson-Akiwumi wrote.
“But the public cannot oversee what it cannot observe.”
According to the reprieve application, Weisheit’s father, mother and sister intend to attend the execution, leaving two of the five available witness positions.
The attorneys state that representatives of the Indiana Capital Chronicle and Indianapolis Star have agreed to observe the execution and provide independent accounts.
However, they argue that the witness limit also creates a conflict involving the presence of legal counsel, who may need to observe the proceedings and respond if complications occur.
The application notes that Indiana law does not guarantee a separate witness position for an attorney representing the person being executed.
The renewed reprieve application is separate from Weisheit’s pending clemency petition, which asks Braun to commute his death sentence.
The Indiana Parole Board interviewed Weisheit on Oct. 16 and held public hearings Oct. 19 before recommending on Oct. 28 that the governor deny clemency.
According to the filing, the governor’s office indicated that a decision on clemency was not expected before the evening of Nov. 4, less than a day before the scheduled execution.
The attorneys submitted the reprieve request under Article 5, Section 17 of the Indiana Constitution, which authorizes the governor to grant reprieves.
They are asking Braun to postpone the Nov. 5 execution and order an independent examination of the state’s lethal injection directive, pharmaceutical procurement practices and procedures for responding to complications during executions.
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