Q: How is it that a vet can euthanize an animal painlessly and an anesthesiologist can put you to sleep with a proper dose of anesthetic, but the criminal justice system can’t accomplish the same end without a number of problems? It takes three different drugs for criminals. Why is this and what’s the difference?
—Richard Reinsch, Ball Ground
A: Georgia is one of eight states that have used the "single-drug method for executions," the Death Penalty Information Center states on its website (deathpenaltyinfo.org). Georgia switched from a three-drug combination in 2012.
Dr. Jay Chapman, who developed the three-drug combination for Oklahoma in 1977, told Time last year that “it was the procedure for anesthesia at the time. What we did was just carry it to extremes.”
Three-drug lethal injection procedures start with a barbiturate, which is used for sedation, David Kroll, a pharmacologist and medical writer, wrote for Forbes.com. The second drug is a neuromuscular blocker that causes the “paralysis of all muscles except the heart.” The third is a lethal dose of potassium chloride, which stops the heart.
Chapman said a “massive overdose” of thiopental would be adequate.
Experts have said people delivering the drugs aren’t properly trained. Organizations such as the American Medical Association say it’s unethical for medial professionals to participate in executions.
“I think that when people talk about botched executions, generally the botched part comes from how the drugs were administered, not so much that the drugs don’t work,” Ronald Pearl, chair of the department of anesthesiology at Stanford University School of Medicine, told Chemical & Engineering News in 2014.
“Well, knowing now that people who obviously were not prepared or trained sufficiently to administer the protocol, it would’ve been a much simpler thing to just administer a single drug,” Chapman said.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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