I had another post all ready to go but then I heard the news about the guy they just executed in Ohio with a “new” cocktail of drugs – which unlike the old cocktail, caused him to linger, gasp, and choke for as much as 15 minutes before he died.
Views about death sentences aside, views about appropriate forms of death sentence aside – those states who have chosen to allow the death penalty, who have chosen what they consider to be the most humane means have generally chosen one, two or three drugs from a combination of sodium pentothal, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride.
Using the sodium pentothal (also called pentobarbital) along with one or both of the other two works quite rapidly. First the sodium pentothal is a general anesthetic – which puts the person to sleep – and I mean TO SLEEP, immediately – also commonly used by veterinarians for the same purpose. Then to make sure the person doesn’t wake up, they follow with pancuronium bromide which paralyzes the lungs and/or a large dose of potassium chloride which causes the heart to seize and stop.
This is a pretty quick, effective and reasonably humane way to end a person’s life – if and when the state has determined it needs to be done. Don’t write me about your views – I have my own and I don’t care about yours, this is all commentary on a topic that caught my attention…just sayin’
Recently, there has been a lot of noise over which drugs should be used, who should mix them, where are we going to get them from…..etc. The DEA has actually seized lethal injection drugs from the prison systems in several states because the manufacturer (Danish based Lundbeck – and the DEA) decided that it was an unapproved use of a controlled substance…..duh, what manufacturer (though this is a really old drug) is going to be ok with putting “for the use of killing a person in a prison system” on their prescription label.
Ohio decided (in retrospect, a very poor decision) to use midazolam and hydromorphone – as have other states (who haven’t done it yet). That is Versed and Dilaudid for those who are brand conscious. Midazolam is a benzodiazepine like Valium – good as an antianxiety agent, good for seizures, good for conscious or temporary sedation – but takes a pretty large amount to kill a person – and it doesn’t happen right away. Hydromorphone is a pain reliever, a narcotic like morphine. Hydromorphone, as an overdose (which this is) can obviously kill you, but the amount needed is highly variable from person to person.
This was the first execution to use the new two drug procedure. The Ohio inmate, Dennis McGuire was convicted in 1994 for the rape and murder of a pregnant woman and sentenced to death. His lawyers had recently been arguing for a delay of execution, stating that the new combination was untried and would cause the prisoner to “suffocate to death in agony and terror”. Several other states are “planning” to use the same cocktail….hmmh – wonder if they will change their collective minds?
Again, discussions about the death penalty aside, discussions about humane ways to perform execution aside and discussions about the number of death penalty cases which get overturned aside….it took McGuire 15 minutes to die while his family and other observers watched.
The death penalty provides closure for some families. In other cases the families feel nothing. Sometimes they watch, sometimes they don’t. In some cases they are totally opposed, other times they agree. Sometimes they forgive the convicted, often they don’t.
Again, aside from discussions and feelings about the morality of capital punishment, discussions about various methods, discussions about the number of people who have been proven not guilty after spending years on death row (or in a local case was proven not guilty after sitting on death row for about 20 years, it was determined that the principal prosecutor, now a sitting judge, concealed evidence that would have resulted in a “not-guilty” verdict in the first place – and now they have the guy who actually committed the murder – and probably another one, in custody)….aren’t we supposed to provide humane punishment?
Would you allow the vet to put your dying dog “down” if you knew it was going to take 15 minutes of gasping? Frankly, I have often thought other methods were barbaric (again, not discussing the morality of capital punishment in general) but now I am pretty sure that hanging, a firing squad, the gas chamber – or even electrocution would be better.
Just curious – but why are we allowing the Danes to tell us what drugs we can and can’t use – even though we have been using the same drug for years – and especially since they are clearly opposed to the whole process?
Death penalty statistics (http://deathpenaltyinfo.org)
# States
Death Penalty resumed after reenactment in 1976: 35
Repealed since reenactment: 3
Allow Injection 32
Allow Electrocution 11
Allow Firing squad 3
Allow Hanging 3
Allow Gas Chamber 5
Allow Guillotine 0
State with the most executions…..TEXAS – 508 (with 298 on death row) – followed by Virginia and Oklahoma
State with the most on death row….Florida – 412 (only 82 have actually been executed)
States where execution is allowed but has not been used – 2 – Kansas, New Hampshire
A while back, I wrote about natural remedies for the flu virus and one of the points that I like to make is that Echinacea and Golden Seal, commonly recommended for “colds” should NOT be taken for serious viral disorders like Ebola – but other natural or herbal treatments may help.
The Medicine Teacher 