Lethal injection

Lethal injection is used as a method of capital punishment that involves injecting the condemned with fatal doses of drugs to cause death. It gained popularity in the twentieth century as a "more humane" form of execution meant to supplant methods such as electrocution, hanging, firing squad, gas chamber, or decapitation; the actual humaneness of the technique has been debated in recent decades.

History

The USA was the first nation to experiment with lethal injection for capital crimes, using it first on December 7, 1982. The concept had been proposed in 1888 by J. Mount Bleyer in New York, but the concept was not approved. It was rejected by the British Royal Commission on Capital Punishment (1949-1953) after pressure from the British Medical Association (BMA). In February 1977, Dr. Stanley Deutsch revived the idea in Oklahoma. The method was adopted by that state in 1977 but was first used in Texas. Since then, the majority of US states which use capital punishment use lethal injection. The practice extended outside the US with China using the method in 1997, Guatemala in 1998 and the Philippines followed in 1999; a number of other countries have adopted the method in law but not in practice.

Procedure

After the condemned is fastened on the execution table, two intravenous catheters are inserted, one in each arm. Only one is used for the execution, the other is reserved as a backup in case the primary IV fails.

The arm of the condemned is swabbed with alcohol before the needle is inserted. Along with its antiseptic use, the alcohol also causes the blood vessels to rise to the skin's surface, making it easier to insert the needle. [1] The needles and equipment used are also sterilized. One reason for this is because the needles are standard medical products that are sterilized during manufacturing. Also, there is a chance that the prisoner could receive a stay of execution after the needles have been inserted as happened in the case of James Autry in October 1983 (he was executed eventually on 14 March 1984). Finally, it would also be a hazard for those handling unsterile equipment.

The intravenous injection is usually a mixture of compounds, designed to induce rapid unconsciousness followed by death through paralysis of respiratory muscles and/or by inducing cardiac hyperpolarization.

The execution of the condemned in most states involves three separate injections:

Sodium thiopental: to induce a state of unconsciousness intended to last while the other two injections take effect.
Pancuronium/Tubocurarine: to stop all muscle movement except the heart. This causes muscle paralysis, collapse of the diaphragm, and would eventually cause death by asphyxiation.
Potassium chloride: to stop the heart from beating, and thus cause death: see cardiac arrest.

The drugs are not mixed externally as that can cause them to precipitate.

The intravenous tubing leads to a room next to the execution chamber, usually separated from the inmate by a curtain or wall. Usually some type of IV technician with certification to insert the IV performs that role, while the chemical technician, who is usually a member of the prison staff, orders, prepares, and loads the chemicals into the machine. After the curtain is opened to allow the witnesses to see inside the chamber, the condemned person will then be permitted to make a final statement. Following this, the warden will signal for the execution to commence, and the executioner(s), either prison staff or private citizens depending on the jurisdiction, will then activate the machine which mechanically delivers the three drugs in sequence. During the execution, the patient's cardiac rhythm is monitored and death is pronounced after cardiac activity stops. Death usually occurs within seven minutes, although the whole procedure can take up to 45 minutes. According to state law, if participation in the execution is prohibited for physicians, the death ruling is made by the state's Medical Examiner's Office. After confirmation that death has occurred, a coroner signs the executed individual’s death certificate.

Lethal injection drugs

The below three drugs are a representation of a typical lethal injection cocktail.

Thiopental sodium

Lethal Injection dose: 5 grams

Thiopental sodium (US trade name: Pentothal) is an ultra-short acting barbiturate, often used for anesthesia induction and for medical induced comas. The typical anesthesia induction dose is 3-5 mg/kg (a person who weighs 200 pounds, or 91 kilograms, would get a dose of about 300 mg). Loss of consciousness is induced within 30-45 seconds at the typical dose, while a five gram dose which is fourteen times the normal dose is likely to induce unconsciousness in 5-10 seconds.

Thiopental reaches the brain within seconds and attains a peak brain concentration of about 60% of the total dose in about 30 seconds. At this level, the patient is unconscious. Within 5 to 20 minutes, the percentage in the brain falls to about 15% of the total dose since the drug redistributes to the rest of the body. At this concentration in the brain, the anesthetic effects wear off and consciousness returns.

The half-life of this drug is about 11.5 hours[2], and the concentration in the brain remains at around about 5-10% of the total dose during that time. When a 'mega-dose' is administered, as in lethal injection, the concentration in the brain during the tail phase of the distribution stays higher than the peak concentration found in the induction dose for anesthesia. This is the reason why an ultra-short acting barbiturate, such as thiopental, can be used for long-term induction of medical comas.

After a five gram dose, consciousness will be regained in about five to six half-lives which occurs in about 57-69 hours. The effects of such a high dose, however, includes profound respiratory depression (depression of the brainstem respiratory center) and vascular collapse (vasodilatation and myocardial depression), which in itself is a lethal dose.

Thiopental historically has been one of the most common used and studied drugs for the induction of comas. Protocols vary with how the medication is given, but the typical doses are anywhere from 500 mg up to 1.5 grams. It is likely that this data that was used to develop the initial protocols for lethal injection of giving 1 gram of thiopental to induce the coma. Now, most states use 5 grams to be absolutely certain about its effectiveness.

Barbiturates are the same class of drugs used in medically assisted suicide.

Pancuronium bromide

Lethal Injection dose: 100 milligrams

Pancuronium bromide (Trade name: Pavulon) is a non-depolarizing muscle relaxant (a paralytic agent) that blocks the action of acetylcholine at the motor end-plate of the neuromuscular junction. Binding of acetylcholine to receptors on the end-plate causes depolarization and contraction of the muscle fibre; non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocking agents like pancuronium stop this binding from taking place.

The typical dose for pancuronium bromide is 0.1 mg/kg (a person who weighs 200 pounds, or 91 kilograms, would get a dose of around 9mg). With a 100 milligram dose, the onset to paralysis occurs in around 15 to 30 seconds, and the duration of paralysis is around 4 to 8 hours. Paralysis of respiratory muscles will lead to death in a considerably shorter time.

Pancuronium bromide is a derivative of the alkaloid malouetine from the plant Malouetia bequaertiana.

Potassium chloride

Lethal Injection dose: 100 MEQ (milliequivalents)

Potassium is an electrolyte that is 98% within the cells. The 2% remaining outside of the cell has great implications for cells that generate action potentials. Typically, doctors give patients potassium when they have insufficient potassium in their blood. The potassium can be given orally which is the safest route, or it can be given intravenously in which case there are strict rules and hospital protocols on the rate at which it is given.

The usual intravenous dose is 10-20 MEQ per hour and it is given slowly since it takes time for the electrolyte to equilibrate into the cells. When used in lethal injection, bolus potassium injection affects the electrical conduction of heart muscle. Hyperkalemia (elevated potassium) causes the resting electrical activity of the heart muscle to be lower than normal.

Making the resting potential even lower slows conduction and reduces the ability of the muscle to depolarize and contract. EKG changes include faster repolarization (peaked T-waves), PR interval prolongation, widening of the QRS, and eventual sine-wave formation and asystole. The heart eventually stops in diastole. Cases of patients dying from hyperkalemia (usually secondary to renal failure) are well known in the medical community, where patients have been known to go from a normal state to death within seconds.

Ethics

The American Medical Association believes that a physician's opinion on capital punishment is a personal decision. Since the AMA is founded on preserving life, they argue that doctors "should not be a participant" in executions in any form with the exception of "certifying death, provided that the condemned has been declared dead by another person."[3] Amnesty International distorts the AMA's position, claiming that the AMA "prohibits doctors from participating in executions." [4] The AMA does not have the authority to prohibit doctors from participation in lethal injection, nor has the authority to revoke medical licenses since this is the responsibility of the individual states.

Typically, most states do not require that physicians administer the drugs for lethal injection, but many states do require that physicians be present to pronounce or certify death.

Controversy

Arguments against

The concern has been raised that execution by lethal injection, as practiced in the United States, is not actually humane. It has been argued that the ultrashort-acting anesthetic may wear off, leaving the inmate fully conscious, yet rendered paralyzed by the paralytic agent. There are several reasons for the concern.

First, sodium thiopental is an ultrashort-acting barbiturate, used in surgery only in the induction phase of anesthesia, specifically so that the patient may awaken and breathe on his or her own if any complications arise in inserting a breathing tube pre-surgery. It is not used to maintain a patient in a surgical plane of anesthesia because of its short-acting nature.

Second, the second injected chemical, pancuronium bromide, may act to dilute the initial injection of sodium thiopental.

Third, because the personnel involved in administering the injection lack training and expertise in anesthesia, the risk of failing to induce unconsciousness is greatly increased. The dose of sodium thiopental must be measured with precision, and the calculation of the proper amount of the drug depends upon both the concentration of the drug and the size and condition of the subject. Because of the manner in which the drugs are administered (remotely), the risk of errors in the injection causing insufficient amounts of chemicals to enter the bloodstream is greatly increased.

The effect of dilution or improper administration of thiopental is that the inmate dies an agonizing death through slow suffocation while fully conscious, yet unable to express any pain. While pancuronium bromide paralyzes skeletal muscles, including the diaphragm, it has no effect on consciousness or the perception of pain or suffering. For this reason, the use of paralyzing agents for the euthanasia of animals like cats and dogs has been made illegal — either directly or by reference to the American Veterinary Medical Association's panel on euthanasia, which prohibits the practice generally [5] — in at least 19 states, including Texas, the state that executes the most people by lethal injection. However, the use of these agents for execution continues.

On occasion, there have also been difficulties inserting the delivery needles, sometimes taking over half an hour to find a suitable vein. Some of the previous errors in Texas executions include:

Technicians punctured the inmate repeatedly in both arms and legs for 45 minutes before a vein was located. (Stephen Peter Morin [6], March 13, 1985)
Executioners struggled for 35 minutes to insert the catheter into an inmate's veins. (Elliot Johnson, June 24, 1987)
24 minutes elapsed between the time the initial injection occurred and the time the inmate was pronounced dead; two minutes into the procedure, the syringe came out of the inmate's arm and the chemicals sprayed out towards witnesses. (Raymond Landry [7], December 13, 1988)
After an inmate had a violent physical reaction to the drugs as they were injected, the Texas Attorney General stated the inmate "seemed to have a somewhat stronger reaction," adding "The drugs might have been administered in a heavier dose or more rapidly." (Stephen McCoy [8], May 24, 1989)
August 20, 1986: Randy Woolls, Texas. A drug addict, Woolls, had to help the execution technicians find a good vein for the execution.
January 24, 1992: Ricky Ray Rector, Arkansas. It took medical staff more than 50 minutes to find a suitable vein in Rector’s arm. Witnesses were not permitted to view this scene, but reported hearing Rector’s loud moans throughout the process. During the ordeal Rector (who suffered serious brain damage from a lobotomy) tried to help the medical personnel find a vein. The administer of States’ Department of Corrections medical programs said, (paraphrased by a newspaper reporter), “the moans did come as a team of two medical people that had grown to five worked on both sides of his body to find a vein”. The administrator said “that may have contributed to his occasional outbursts."
January 26, 2006: In the case of Marvin Bigler the US supreme court decided that his execution may proceed, although he argued that it was cruel and unusual punishment. The state attorney general's office argued that Bigler's appeal was a delay tactic and that Indiana's chemical injection method of execution, used since 1996, was constitutional. The state argued that the Constitution does not guarantee a pain-free execution. Bigler claims that he is innocent.

In 2005, University of Miami researchers reported in the medical journal The Lancet that they believed in 43 out of the 49 executions they investigated, the level of thiopental in the blood was lower than that required for surgery. This has led them to believe that the prisoners were fully aware of what was happening to them. The authors attributed the rate of likely consciousness among inmates to the lack of training and monitoring in the process, and recommended that states take a look at the American Veterinary Medical Association's recommendations on animal euthanasia, which prohibits the use of paralytic agents in combination with barbiturates and recommends animals like cats and dogs be euthanized by a single injection of a short-acting barbiturate such as sodium pentobarbital. [9]

Opponents of lethal injection as currently practiced argue that the procedure employed is entirely unnecessary and is aimed more towards creating the appearance of serenity and a humane death than an actually humane death. Pancuronium bromide, the paralytic agent employed in lethal injection, is used in surgery to keep patients immobilized during delicate surgical procedures that occur near vital organs. By contrast, its use in lethal injection serves no purpose, since there is no need to keep the inmate completely immobilized and the inmate is physically restrained.

The opponents say that because death can be painlessly accomplished, without risk of consciousness, by the injection of a single large dosage of barbiturate, the use of any other chemicals is entirely superfluous and only serves to unnecessarily increase the risk of torture during the execution. Legal challenges, however, have to date been unsuccessful, and United States federal courts have employed a range of procedural obstacles to avoid reaching the merits of the complaints, likely to avoid the temporary moratorium that would occur while states moved to alter their respective execution protocols.

Proponents of lethal injection as currently practiced counter that that the megadose of sodium pentothal places the condemned in a medical coma that lasts much longer than the time needed for execution. The administration of potassium chloride may cause a rippling or spasms of the muscles and it is believed that the pancuronium may decrease these effects. Opponents of lethal injection as currently practiced point out, however, that if the inmate is indeed rendered unconscious by the administration of sodium pentothal, it should not matter whether muscles ripple or spasm, because they will not be felt. Critics believe, therefore, that the administration of pancuronium serves no purpose other than to create the appearance of a serene death rather than to actually provide a humane death.

Arguments in support

Commonality

The combination of a barbiturate induction agent and a nondepolarizing paralytic agent is used in tens of thousands of surgeries every day. Supporters of the death penalty argue that unless anesthesiologists have been wrong for the last 40 years, the use of pentothal and pancuronium is safe and effective. In fact, potassium is given in heart bypass surgery to induce cardioplegia. Therefore, the combination of these three drugs is still in use today. It is likely that the designers of the lethal injection protocols intentionally used the same drugs as used in every day surgery to avoid controversy. The only modification is that a massive coma-inducing dose of barbiturates is given.

Anesthesia awareness

Pentothal and methohexital are ideal drugs for inducing unconsciousness. Both of these drugs cause loss of consciousness upon one circulation through the brain because of their high lipophilicity. Only a few drugs, such as etomidate, have the capability to induce anesthesia so rapidly. Also since the pentothal is given at such a high dose, a dose that is higher than medical-induced coma protocols, it is impossible for a patient to wake up. Regardless, opponents of the death penalty claim that anesthesia awareness still is a concern.

Anesthesia awareness occurs when there is inadequate inhaled anesthetics given by the anesthesiologist. Barbiturates are only given during the induction phase of anesthesia and these medications rapidly and reliably induce anesthesia. A depolarizing paralytic or a nondepolarizing paralytic, like pancuronium, may then be given to cause paralysis which facilitates intubation. Once intubation has been attained, the anesthesia is converted to the inhaled anesthetics since the barbiturates at the dose given induce unconsciousness for only 5-20 minutes. The anesthesiologist has the responsibility to ensure that the inhaled anesthetics are started soon after intubation to prevent the patient from waking up.

Anesthesia is not maintained with the barbiturate class of drugs since these drugs have extremely long half-lives. The "ultra-short" acting pentothal has a half-life of approximately 11.5 hours and the long acting phenobarbital has a half-life of approximately 4-5 days. In contrast, the inhaled anesthetics have extremely short half-lives and allow the patient to wake up from surgery. If the barbiturate class of drugs was used for anesthesia, patients would not wake up for days. Patients only regain consciousness if the anesthesiologist fails to give sufficient inhaled anesthetics. Therefore, anesthesia awareness is not a problem when dealing with the barbiturate class of drugs, it only occurs if there is inadequate inhaled anesthetics.

The average time to death once a lethal injection protocol has been started is about 7-11 minutes.[10] Since it only takes about 30 seconds for the pentothal to induce anesthesia, 30-45 seconds for the pancuronium to cause paralysis, and about 30 seconds for the potassium to stop the heart, death can theoretically be attained in as little as 90 seconds. Given that it takes time to administer the drugs through an IV, time for the line to be flushed, time to change the drug being administered, and time to ensure that death has occurred, the whole procedure takes about 7-11 minutes. Procedural aspects in pronouncing death also adds time and, therefore, the condemned is usually pronounced within 10 to 20 minutes of starting the drugs. Supporters of the death penalty say that a megadose of pentothal, which is anywhere from 14-20 times the normal dose and one in which a medical coma is induced for about 60 hours, is impossible to wear off in 10 to 20 minutes.

Dilution effect

Death penalty supporters state that the claim that the pancuronium dilutes the pentothal dose is erroneous as well. Supporters argue that pancuronium and pentothal are commonly used together in surgery every day and if there were a dilution effect, it would be a known drug interaction.

Drug interactions are a complex topic, but most drug interactions can be simplistically classified as either synergistic or inhibitory interactions. In addition, drug interactions can occur directly at the site of action, through common pathways or indirectly through metabolism of the drug in the liver or through elimination in the kidney. Pancuronium and pentothal have completely different sites of action, one in the brain and one at the neuromuscular junction. Since the half-life of pentothal is on the order of hours, the metabolism of the drugs it is a nonissue when dealing with the short time frame in lethal injection. The only other plausible interpretation would be a direct one, or one in which the two compounds interact with each other. Supporters of the death penalty argue that this theory does not hold true. They state that even if the 100 mg of pancuronium directly prevented 500 mg of pentothal from working, there would be enough pentothal to induce coma for 50 hours. In addition, if this interaction did occur, then the pancuronium would be incapable of causing paralysis.

Supporters of the death penalty state that the claim that the pancuronium prevents the pentothal from working yet still is capable of causing paralysis is not based on any scientific evidence and is a drug interaction that has never before been documented for any other drugs. Supporters of the death penalty question if this is an invented false claim.

Blood levels

Researchers at the University of Miami have published an article in The Lancet claiming that the concentration of pentothal in the blood following execution was not of a sufficient concentration to reach anesthesia. Supporters of the death penalty dispute this claim.

The barbiturate class of drugs is highly lipophilic, meaning that the drugs are absorbed and reach high concentration in fatty tissues. Measurement of the drug by blood testing after administration is difficult to assess since most of the drug will not be in the blood. Blood levels soon after administration are the highest for the barbiturate class since the drug has not completely cleared from the blood. This is known as the initial volume of distribution. After a short period of time, the drug then reaches its apparent volume of distribution. Pentothal's initial volume of distribution is 13.8 liters and its apparent volume of distribution is 233 liters.[11] Essentially, any blood level drawn after an execution could be compared to the drug level that one would expect in the initial distribution. Since the apparent volume of distribution is much larger than the initial distribution, and hence its blood concentration much lower, any researcher can incorrectly claim that the level of pentothal was insufficient.

Given that the half-life of pentothal is 11.5 hours, the amount of pentothal required in the brain to induce anesthesia is about 50-75 milligrams, and that the dose of pentothal given is 5 grams, supporters of the death penalty state that common sense and medical experience indicate that the condemned is in a coma with certainty. Supporters of the death penalty therefore argue that the conclusions derived from the research must be politically motivated.

In fact, the researchers state that “participation of doctors in protocol design and execution is ethically prohibited.”[12] Therefore, the authors conclude that "a more effective, humane protocol cannot be developed."[13] Supporters of the death penalty state that the bias of the authors and faulty study design invalidates the study's conclusions.

Single drug

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Death Penalty Information Center, and other anti-death penalty groups, have not proposed a lethal injection protocol which they believe is more humane. Supporters of the death penalty argue that the lack of an alternative proposed protocol is testament to the fact that the humaneness of the lethal injection protocol is not the issue. Instead supporters argue that the issue is the continued existence of the death penalty since if the only issue was the humaneness of the procedure, then Amnesty International, HRW, or the DPIC should have already proposed a more humane method.

Regardless of an alternative protocol, some death penalty opponents have claimed that execution can be more humane by the administration of a single lethal dose of barbiturate. Supporters of the death penalty, however, state that the single drug theory is flawed concept. Terminally ill patients in Oregon who have requested physician-assisted suicide have received lethal doses of barbiturates. The protocol has been highly effective in attaining a humane death, but the onset to actual death can be a drawn out process. Some patients have taken days to die whereas a few patients have actually survived the process and have regained consciousness up to three days after taking the lethal dose.[14] In a Californian legal proceeding addressing the issue if the lethal injection cocktail was "cruel and unusual," State authorities said that the time to death following a single injection of barbiturate is approximately 45 minutes.[15]

Scientifically this is readily explained. Barbiturate overdoses typically cause death by depression of the respiratory center, but the effect is variable. Some patients may have complete cessation of respiratory drive, whereas others may only have depression of respiratory function. In addition, cardiac activity can last for a long time, potentially hours, after cessation of respiration. Since death is pronounced after asystole and given that the expectation is for a rapid death in lethal injection, multiple drugs are required; specifically potassium chloride to stop the heart. In fact, in the case of Clarence Ray Allen a second dose of potassium chloride was required to attain asystole. The position of death penalty supporters is that death should be attained in a reasonable amount of time.

Supporters of the death penalty agree that the use of pancuronium bromide is not absolutely necessary in the lethal injection protocol. Some supporters believe that the drug may decrease muscular fasiculations when the potassium is given, but this has yet to be proven. Irrespective, supporters argue that the dose of thiopental is so high that the condemmed will be in stage 4 anesthesia theoretically for over 2 days and that there is zero risk to consciouness being regained.

Constitutionality

The Supreme Court has never ruled that any specific form of execution has violated the Eight Amendment clause prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment. Recently, due to growing concerns over the lethal injection cocktail, the Supreme Court decided to stay the execution of Clarence Edward Hill and hear the legal challenge as of January 26th, 2006. In addition, the constitutionality of lethal injection is being tested in a Califonia case involving Michael Morales.

References

Bean, Matt (June 8, 2001). "Lethal injection—the humane alternative?". {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help)
Liptak, Adam (October 7, 2003). "Critics Say Execution Drug May Hide Suffering". {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help)
"Prisoners 'aware' in executions". 14 April, 2005. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help)
Kevin Bonsor (September 3). "How Lethal Injection Works". HowStuffWorks.com. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
Koniaris, Leonidas G.; et al. (2005). "Inadequate anaesthesia in lethal injection for execution". The Lancet. 365 (9468): 1412–1414. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)
"When someone is executed by lethal injection, do they swab off the arm first?" from The Straight Dope