Post by MXB on Jun 10, 2006 1:41:11 GMT -5
The Lethal Injection
Post-mortem blood testing and execution logs that seem to show that executions meant to be humane have, in fact, caused excruciating pain.
The three chemicals used in lethal injections in about 35 states have long attracted attention for what critics say is their needless and dangerous complexity.
The first chemical in the series is sodium thiopental, a short-acting barbiturate. Properly administered, all sides agree, it is sufficient to render an inmate unconscious for many hours, if not to kill him.
The second chemical is pancuronium bromide, a relative of curare. If administered by itself, it paralyzes the body but leaves the subject conscious, suffocating but unable to cry out.
The third, potassium chloride, stops the heart and causes excruciating pain as it travels through the veins.
Problems arise, lawyers and experts for the inmates say, when poorly trained personnel make mistakes in preparing the chemicals, inserting the catheters and injecting the chemicals into intravenous lines. If the first chemical is ineffective, the other two are torturous.
In veterinary euthanasia and in assisted suicides in Oregon, a single lethal dose of a long-acting barbiturate is typically used. But corrections officials and their medical experts say using that method in executions would take too long and would subject witnesses to discomfort.
Post-mortem blood testing and execution logs that seem to show that executions meant to be humane have, in fact, caused excruciating pain.
The three chemicals used in lethal injections in about 35 states have long attracted attention for what critics say is their needless and dangerous complexity.
The first chemical in the series is sodium thiopental, a short-acting barbiturate. Properly administered, all sides agree, it is sufficient to render an inmate unconscious for many hours, if not to kill him.
The second chemical is pancuronium bromide, a relative of curare. If administered by itself, it paralyzes the body but leaves the subject conscious, suffocating but unable to cry out.
The third, potassium chloride, stops the heart and causes excruciating pain as it travels through the veins.
Problems arise, lawyers and experts for the inmates say, when poorly trained personnel make mistakes in preparing the chemicals, inserting the catheters and injecting the chemicals into intravenous lines. If the first chemical is ineffective, the other two are torturous.
In veterinary euthanasia and in assisted suicides in Oregon, a single lethal dose of a long-acting barbiturate is typically used. But corrections officials and their medical experts say using that method in executions would take too long and would subject witnesses to discomfort.