OKLAHOMA IS to ask the courts for permission to execute condemned men with a drug commonly used to put down animals because of a national shortage of an anaesthetic crucial for lethal injections.
The move follows legal action by death-penalty opponents in Britain to prevent export to the US of the anaesthetic, sodium thiopental, after a supply manufactured in the UK was used to put to death a convicted murderer in Arizona last month. Oklahoma’s attorney general is to ask a court next week to be allowed to use pentobarbital, a drug used by veterinarians to put down animals, in the execution of death-row inmate John Duty in December.
The state describes the drug as “an ideal anaesthetic agent for humane euthanasia in animals” and not substantially different to sodium thiopental, an anaesthetic used as the first of three drugs in a lethal injection.
If the court approves the move, it is likely to open the way for other states to follow suit. Duty’s lawyers oppose the use of pentobarbital because they say it is untested on humans and “could well result in a torturous execution”. However, pentobarbital has been used for doctor-assisted suicides in Oregon and by the Swiss euthanasia group, Dignitas.
Richard Dieter, director of the Death Penalty Information Centre in Washington, welcomed the prospect of next week’s court hearing because he said it will be a chance to consider whether the right drugs are being used in executions.
Mr Dieter said that, arguments about the merits of the death penalty aside, if it is going to be applied, there needs to be a more rigorous examination of the science involved.
“The use on animals has been a rather thoughtful process involving veterinarians. You don’t have doctors selecting these drugs for lethal injections. There hasn’t been a discussion of the best science,” he said.
“I don’t trust that the Oklahoma department of corrections knows enough to make these decisions. So put it in a court and call the doctors. A lot of this has been done in the dark. Having it more out in the open should go along with any changes that are contemplated putting aside whether the death penalty makes sense at all.”
Oklahoma last executed a condemned man in October after obtaining a dose of sodium thiopental from Arkansas, which also provided a supply to Tennessee to carry out a lethal injection. But it has been unable to secure a fresh supply after the manufacturer in the US halted production because of a shortage of an ingredient.
– ( Guardianservice)