Legal Blog
Ethical questions surround doctor's involvement in Georgia executions
“It’s wrong for a doctor to do something like that – to help take someone’s life. It’s against the guidelines of the AMA’s code of ethics for a doctor to do that.”
--Stephen Brotherton, a Texas surgeon who chairs the American Medical Association’s Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs.
“Physicians are licensed by the state, and if the state believes there’s a legitimate reason to carry out an execution, I do not have an objection to physicians participating if it doesn’t violate their conscience. . . . But whether it violates the Hippocratic Oath, that's another question."
-- John Banja, Emory University’s Center for Ethics
The state of Georgia hires a doctor on a contract basis to prescribe the drug used to execute prisoners on death row. The identity of the doctor is a secret. Even the contract between him or her and the state is a secret.
Using files from earlier execution cases, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was able to piece together some of the information the state does not wish to share. Read Secrets of the Death Penalty.
About the Author
Bill Rankin has been an AJC reporter for more than 30 years. His father, Jim Rankin, worked as an editor for the newspaper for 26 years, retiring in 1986. Bill has primarily covered the state’s court system, doing all he can do to keep the scales of justice on an even keel. Since 2015, he has been the host of the newspaper’s Breakdown podcast.
