Lethal injection for execution: chemical asphyxiation?

ABSTRACT:

Background

Lethal injection for execution was conceived as a comparatively humane alternative to electrocution or cyanide gas. The current protocols are based on one improvised by a medical examiner and an anesthesiologist in Oklahoma and are practiced on an ad hoc basis at the discretion of prison personnel. Each drug used, the ultrashort-acting barbiturate thiopental, the neuromuscular blocker pancuronium bromide, and the electrolyte potassium chloride, was expected to be lethal alone, while the combination was intended to produce anesthesia then death due to respiratory and cardiac arrest. We sought to determine whether the current drug regimen results in death in the manner intended.

Methods and findings

We analyzed data from two US states that release information on exe

SUBMITTER: Zimmers TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1876417 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature