Sodium thiopental, better known as Sodium Pentothal (a trademark

Trademark

A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...

 of Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is an American-based global, diversified pharmaceuticals and health care products company. It has 90,000 employees and operates in over 130 countries. The company headquarters are in Abbott Park, North Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded by Chicago physician, Dr....

), thiopental, thiopentone sodium, or Trapanal (also a trademark), is a rapid-onset short-acting barbiturate

Barbiturate

Barbiturates are drugs that act as central nervous system depressants, and can therefore produce a wide spectrum of effects, from mild sedation to total anesthesia. They are also effective as anxiolytics, as hypnotics, and as anticonvulsants...

 general anaesthetic

General anaesthetic

A general anaesthetic is a drug that brings about a reversible loss of consciousness. These drugs are generally administered by an anaesthesia provider to induce or maintain general anaesthesia to facilitate surgery...

. Thiopental is a core medicine in the World Health Organization

World Health Organization

The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...

's "Essential Drugs List", which is a list of minimum medical needs for a basic healthcare system. It is also usually the first of three drugs administered during most lethal injection

Lethal injection

Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide...

s in the United States.

Barbiturates are a class of drugs that act on the GABA_A receptor

GABA A receptor

The GABAA receptor is an ionotropic receptor and ligand-gated ion channel. Its endogenous ligand is γ-aminobutyric acid , the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. Upon activation, the GABAA receptor selectively conducts Cl- through its pore, resulting in...

 in the brain and spinal cord.