Science

Lethal Injections Are Inhumane, Scientists Say

Lethal injections are used by 37 states as a cheaper, less barbaric alternative to gas chambers and electric chairs. Some doctors and activists, however, allege that the injections are cruel, unreliable and violate the Constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. A new study of executions in North Carolina, California, Florida and Virginia supports the […]

Injection
Lethal injections are used by 37 states as a cheaper, less barbaric alternative to gas chambers and electric chairs. Some doctors and activists, however, allege that the injections are cruel, unreliable and violate the Constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

A new study of executions in North Carolina, California, Florida and Virginia supports the objectors' position:

Even when administered properly, the three-drug lethal injection method appears to have caused some inmates to suffocate while they were conscious and unable to move, instead of having their hearts stopped while they were sedated, scientists said in a report published Monday by the online journal PLoS Medicine. [...]

The study concluded that the typical "one-size-fits-all" doses of anesthetic do not take into account an inmate's weight and other key factors. Some inmates got too little, and in some cases, the anesthetic wore off before the execution was complete, the authors found.

"You wouldn't be able to use this protocol to kill a pig at the University of Miami" without more proof that it worked as intended, said Teresa Zimmers, a biologist there who led the study.

Study: Lethal Injection Method Flawed [Washington Post]