
Lethal Injections in the United States
This 65-page report reveals the slipshod history of executions by lethal injection, using a protocol created three decades ago with no scientific research, nor modern adaptation, and still unchanged today. As the prisoner lies strapped to a gurney, a series of three drugs is injected into his vein by executioners hidden behind a wall. A massive dose of sodium thiopental, an anesthetic, is injected first, followed by pancuronium bromide, which paralyzes voluntary muscles, but leaves the prisoner fully conscious and able to experience pain. A third drug, potassium chloride, quickly causes cardiac arrest, but the drug is so painful that veterinarian guidelines prohibit its use unless a veterinarian first ensures that the pet to be put down is deeply unconscious. No such precaution is taken for prisoners being executed.
ISBN: G1801
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Table of Contents
- So Long as They Die
- Summary
- Recommendations
- I. Development of Lethal Injection Protocols
- II. Lethal Injection Drugs
- III. Lethal Injection Procedures
- IV. Physician Participation in Executions and Medical Ethics
- V. Case Study: Morales v. Hickman
- VI. Botched Executions
- VII. International Human Rights and U.S. Constitutional Law
- Appendix A: State Execution Methods
- Acknowledgements
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