Post by cjm on Jul 2, 2015 18:20:35 GMT
Looks like they can use our Dr Basson to help.
www.popsci.com/search-better-lethal
The Search For A Better Lethal Injection
Midazolam was just approved for executions, but science still has a lot of questions about how it works.
By Alexandra Ossola Posted 1 hour ago
Midazolam is a light anesthetic used in thousands of medical procedures all over the United States. But for the past few years, it has been used for a more sinister purpose: in lethal injections.
For states that use the death penalty, lethal injection is the primary way it's done. The department of corrections in each state develops its own protocol that will, ideally, kill a prisoner without causing too much pain. Several states use a three-drug cocktail to execute a prisoner—one to numb him so he doesn’t feel pain, one to paralyze him so he can’t fight his executioners (or so that those watching can’t see him writhe in pain), and one that stops the heart and kills him. More recently, some states started to use just one drug, a very heavy dose of an anesthetic.
The problem is that there's not a lot of science backing up the drugs used in lethal injections. While a prisoner's actual death is not hard to observe, executioners don't know much about whether or not he's in pain, especially if he's been given a paralytic agent. That's because, on principle, modern doctors and researchers don't investigate drugs that they know are designed to kill. And while it's great for the common good that smart doctors are using their time, money and brainpower to save lives, it also means that people being put to death may be suffering, and there's no way for us to be sure.
...
The Search For A Better Lethal Injection
Midazolam was just approved for executions, but science still has a lot of questions about how it works.
By Alexandra Ossola Posted 1 hour ago
Midazolam is a light anesthetic used in thousands of medical procedures all over the United States. But for the past few years, it has been used for a more sinister purpose: in lethal injections.
For states that use the death penalty, lethal injection is the primary way it's done. The department of corrections in each state develops its own protocol that will, ideally, kill a prisoner without causing too much pain. Several states use a three-drug cocktail to execute a prisoner—one to numb him so he doesn’t feel pain, one to paralyze him so he can’t fight his executioners (or so that those watching can’t see him writhe in pain), and one that stops the heart and kills him. More recently, some states started to use just one drug, a very heavy dose of an anesthetic.
The problem is that there's not a lot of science backing up the drugs used in lethal injections. While a prisoner's actual death is not hard to observe, executioners don't know much about whether or not he's in pain, especially if he's been given a paralytic agent. That's because, on principle, modern doctors and researchers don't investigate drugs that they know are designed to kill. And while it's great for the common good that smart doctors are using their time, money and brainpower to save lives, it also means that people being put to death may be suffering, and there's no way for us to be sure.
...