Oklahoma botches execution of prisoner

[Red Commissar]

This is a few days old but I think it is of interest to look at. You can read an overview and some takes here

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/30/us...xecutions.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/01/op...-oklahoma.html

Oklahoma had scheduled two executions on Tuesday night (5/30) using a new cocktail of drugs for lethal injection. During the execution of the first prisoner, Clayton D. Lockett, the executioners after applying the sedative that was supposed to render the prisoner unconscious did not work- instead he began writhing in pain and vocalized "man" as the other two drugs were administered. He was clearly not unconscious and was even able to lift himself partially from the gurney. During the process the administrators closed the viewing gallery where the family of the victim were gathered.

Consequently the state has put a stay of execution while they review the method. IT was a very public blunder on the part of Oklahoma, and despite the posturing of death sentence apologists that the prisoner had died as was the point, it has brought up again why execution is continued to be applied in the US despite its clear problems. This is not the first time an execution has been botched using the new drugs either, but this drew more attention as it was the subject of a long legal feud in Oklahoma over the state's refusal to disclose what drugs they were using and who they were buying them from.

For those of you who haven't kept tabs on the use of the death penalty in the US, it has recently run into a hurdle due to the supply of the drugs used for lethal injection, which is the predominant form of execution applied by states in the US. There is a detailed account of that here but long story short:

Before 2011, the US used a three-drug cocktail for lethal injections. These included, in the order they are administered:

-Sodium thiopental: an anesthetic
-Pancuronium bromide: Paralyzes the prisoner and stops breathing
-Potassium chloride: Stops the heart

The original cocktail was designed by a medical examiner who had little relevant experience with drugs for the state of Oklahoma in 1977 after executions resumed in the US following its brief halt from 1972-1977 (tied to the court trials of Georgia v. Furman and Gregg v. Georgia for the stop and resumption), with states seeking a new method of execution to avoid challenges from the 8th amendment that banes cruel and unusual punishment. There were challenges still, with people pointing out in cases of insufficient dosage of sodium thiopental could leave the prisoner completely aware of the pain and impending death, but it would not be noticed by observers because the second drug would paralyze them.

This cocktail became the choice for lethal injection, but it began to run into trouble starting in 2010. Sodium thiopental was easy for states to acquire as pharmaceutical companies had made it for general use as well- this started to change as the medical field went towards other more effective anesthetics that were longer lasting as well- Sodium thiopental for its part has a short shelf-life, roughly four years at the most. This left only one company continuing to produce sodium thiopental for the purpose of execution- Hospira. Hospira in 2010 ran into issues with its attempts to expand into European markets as regulators there threatened to revoke its licenses if it continued to make sodium thiopental, and to that end the company eventually accepted and in January 2011 halted production of the drug.

While states could still acquire the last two drugs, the end of sodium thiopental production essentially was a chokepoint and forced them to either find a replacement or make a new drug cocktail. Again, due to Sodium Thiopental's short shelf life, this meant that starting in 2013 many states began to near a depletion of their stocks and became more desperate to find replacements. This resulted in attempts to import drugs from countries that carry out executions, like India, or with seedy drug distributors in other parts of the world. This ran into problems with trade regulations over the import of drugs and got the FDA involved, and led to instances of states attempting to share stocks of their drugs under the table, with the government getting more peeved over it. This ended up causing states to begin buying their drugs discretely without disclosing who they bought it from. Some began to use entirely new drugs altogether, as related in the Ohio story linked earlier and the Oklahoma case, and again refused to disclose exactly what drugs were used in these mixtures despite legal challenges to disclose the drug contents.

In the Oklahoma case, the state's replacement for the sedative/anesthetic apparently did not work as they had anticipated, and this exposed Lockett to the full effects of the paralyzing and heart arrest drugs, completely conscious as it was carried out, effectively torturing him to death.

There are of course pundits and their followers who do not care if an execution is painful or not because they view it as punishment for the pain the prisoner inflicted. The whole practice of execution in the US comes off to me as a bizarre mess of schadenfreude from retribution-crazed morons, and events like this will continue to highlight just that.

[Tenka]

If you're going to execute people anyway why not use firing squads? It's faster and more assured even than "successful" lethal injections, plus the NRA would appreciate it. I guess execution by forcible poisoning is more socially acceptable because "it looks like they're just sleeping", but for me such sinister methods are all the more loathsome.

[Psycho P and the Freight Train]

If you're going to execute people anyway why not use firing squads? It's faster and more assured even than "successful" lethal injections, plus the NRA would appreciate it. I guess execution by forcible poisoning is more socially acceptable because "it looks like they're just sleeping", but for me such sinister methods are all the more loathsome.

This pisses me off so much because of the cognitive dissonance involved. People say lethal injection is "more humane." As you said, this opinion requires the thought process of, "oh, it's more peaceful, they look like they're sleeping." Absolute bullshit. A bullet in the back of the head is WAY more humane because the person is guaranteed not to feel any pain. But people don't know how to use their brains or think in any way whatsoever and just care about how it looks. This infuriates me.

Sorry for ranting. Basically, I agree.

[Lynx]

Could they not use a lethal dose of morphine, as they do with terminally ill patients?

[Loony Le Fist]

Nitrogen is actually your best bet. It is cheap, and doesn't create complications. Unless you consider lightheadedness to be a complication. Any other inert gas like Helium or Argon also work. However, apparently Nitrogen has the least complications.

[youtube=nBY8cmpOyOo]Video on Suicide using Inert Gas[/youtube]

Wikipedia page on Euthanasia
The principle behind the effectiveness of the device is oxygen deprivation that leads to hypoxia, asphyxia and death within minutes. Deprivation of oxygen in the presence of carbon dioxide creates panic and a sense of suffocation (the hypercapnic alarm response), and struggling even when unconscious, whereas anoxia in the presence of an inert gas, like nitrogen, helium or argon, does not. The basic principle of autoeuthanasia by anoxia was first described in the book Final Exit by Derek Humphry in 1991, although the newer technique that uses inert gases to reduce time taken to die to about five minutes was first discussed in the third edition of Humphry's book.[11] The original methodology was devised, using helium, by the NuTech group — engineers, physicians, divers and others, a small number of people first assembled in 1998 under the leadership of John Hofsess, Philip Nitschke, and Derek Humphry.[12] Nitschke's innovation is the use of a hardware store barbecue gas canister, although in his book The Peaceful Pill eHandbook, he mentions the use of disposable helium canisters, used for inflating party balloons.[6]

Here is more on inert gas asphyxiation.

Note that I am against the death penalty in general. If we are going to do it, it should be as free from complications as possible and inexpensive. There was also a History Channel special on the subject, if someone can find it. IIRC one of the reasons given for why it is not done is because it is desirable for those on death row to suffer during death.