Lethal injection ‘cruel,’ researchers say

American researchers have called for a halt to lethal injection, the most common method of capital punishment in the United States, because it is not always a humane and painless way to die.

Some executed prisoners may have suffered unnecessarily because they had not been sedated properly, they said.

The current way inmates are given lethal injections does not even meet veterinary standards for putting down animals, they added.

The research was carried out by Leonidas Koniaris of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and colleagues.

“Failures in protocol design, implementation, monitoring and review might have led to unnecessary suffering of at least some of those executed,” Koniaris said in a study published in The Lancet medical journal.

“Therefore, to prevent unnecessary cruelty and suffering, cessation and public review of lethal injections is warranted.”

Anesthesia is given during a lethal injection to minimize suffering. Without it the prisoner would suffocate and experience horrible pain, according to Koniaris.

'Fully aware' during execution
But in their analysis of protocols followed during lethal injections in Texas and Virginia, where 45 percent of executions in the United States are conducted, they found there was no monitoring of the anesthesia.

Emergency medical technicians who administered the drugs had no training in anesthesia and there were no reviews after the executions.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

When the researchers examined data from autopsies done following 49 executions in Arizona, Georgia and North and South Carolina, they found concentrations of the drug in the blood in 43 cases were lower than that needed for surgery.

Twenty-one prisoners had drug levels that were consistent with awareness.

“We suggest that it is possible that some of these inmates were fully aware during their executions,” said Koniaris.

An editorial in the journal said if the inmates were awake it would have been a cruel way to die because they would have been unable to move or breathe while potassium burned through their veins.

“Capital punishment is not only an atrocity, but also a stain on the record of the world’s most powerful democracy,” it said.

Since 1976, lethal injection had been used in 788 of the 956 executions in the United States, according to The Lancet.