Doctors have a long history with executions
January 28. 2007 6:01AM
Doctors being involved in executions is nothing new — just look at Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, the namesake of the guillotine in the 18th century.
Guillotin helped develop the device as a more humane execution method, but was later disgusted by the way it was used. Dr. Jonathan Groner cites that example in an article warning doctors of the unintended consequences of taking part in executions.
"It's generally worked out badly for doctors and society," said Groner, an associate professor of surgery at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health.
The article, published in the British Medical Journal, looks at doctor involvement in executions ranging from Nazi Germany to the University of Oklahoma anesthesiologist who conceived the lethal injection procedure.
Groner isn't the only doctor who has studied executions as a way of exposing problems. Most significantly, a study by University of Miami physicians has been the basis of lawsuits arguing that lethal injection violates the U.S. Constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
The UM study, published in the British medical journal The Lancet, found that post-death blood concentrations of anesthetic were lower than required for surgery in 43 of 49 executed inmates. Twenty-one of those inmates had levels consistent with awareness, suggesting they felt the lethal drug burn through their veins before dying.
The study didn't look at inmates in Florida, where the level of lethal drugs in blood isn't typically noted in autopsy reports.
A former University of Florida professor, Mike Radelet, has written six books on the death penalty and has compiled a list of botched executions. Radelet is now chairman of the sociology department at the University of Colorado.
He helped shine the light on the involvement of psychiatrists in executions in the 1980s. Psychiatrists used to evaluate inmates on Death Row in Florida and other states, doing basic interviews to declare competency and clear the way for inmates to be executed.
A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1986 ended the practice, requiring courts to hear testimony from psychiatrists and then make decisions on competency.
"Psychiatrists are still involved but are not the decision-makers," Radelet said.
Groner said he would warn doctors against having any involvement in executions.
"That defiles the medical community as a whole," he said.
Guillotin helped develop the device as a more humane execution method, but was later disgusted by the way it was used. Dr. Jonathan Groner cites that example in an article warning doctors of the unintended consequences of taking part in executions.
"It's generally worked out badly for doctors and society," said Groner, an associate professor of surgery at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health.
The article, published in the British Medical Journal, looks at doctor involvement in executions ranging from Nazi Germany to the University of Oklahoma anesthesiologist who conceived the lethal injection procedure.
Groner isn't the only doctor who has studied executions as a way of exposing problems. Most significantly, a study by University of Miami physicians has been the basis of lawsuits arguing that lethal injection violates the U.S. Constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
The UM study, published in the British medical journal The Lancet, found that post-death blood concentrations of anesthetic were lower than required for surgery in 43 of 49 executed inmates. Twenty-one of those inmates had levels consistent with awareness, suggesting they felt the lethal drug burn through their veins before dying.
The study didn't look at inmates in Florida, where the level of lethal drugs in blood isn't typically noted in autopsy reports.
A former University of Florida professor, Mike Radelet, has written six books on the death penalty and has compiled a list of botched executions. Radelet is now chairman of the sociology department at the University of Colorado.
He helped shine the light on the involvement of psychiatrists in executions in the 1980s. Psychiatrists used to evaluate inmates on Death Row in Florida and other states, doing basic interviews to declare competency and clear the way for inmates to be executed.
A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1986 ended the practice, requiring courts to hear testimony from psychiatrists and then make decisions on competency.
"Psychiatrists are still involved but are not the decision-makers," Radelet said.
Groner said he would warn doctors against having any involvement in executions.
"That defiles the medical community as a whole," he said.
Botched executions at a glanceFormer University of Florida professor and chairman of the sociology department Mike Radelet, now chairman of the sociology department at the University of Colorado, compiled a list of 37 botched executions. The list includes
- June 8, 2000: In Florida, the execution team takes 33 minutes to find suitable veins in inmate Bennie Demps. "They butchered me back there," Demps said in his final statement. "I was in a lot of pain. They cut me in the groin; they cut me in the leg. I was bleeding profusely. This is not an execution, it is murder."
- June 28, 2000: Missouri inmate Bert Leroy Hunter had an unusual reaction to the lethal drugs, coughing and gasping for air before lapsing into unconsciousness. An attorney witnessing the execution reported Hunter had "violent convulsions. His head and chest jerked rapidly upward as far as the gurney restraints would allow, and then he fell quickly down upon the gurney. His body convulsed back and forth like this repeatedly … He suffered a violent and agonizing death."
- Nov. 7, 2001: Georgia inmate Jose High was pronounced dead about one hour and nine minutes after the execution started. After trying to find a usable vein for 39 minutes, emergency medical technicians abandoned their efforts. Eventually, one needle was stuck in High's hand and a physician was called in to insert a second needle between his shoulder and neck.
- May 2, 2006: In Ohio, execution technicians took 22 minutes to find a vein suitable in inmate Joseph L. Clark. Three or four minutes later, the vein collapsed and Clark's arm started swelling. He raised his head off the gurney and said five times, "It don't work. It don't work." The curtains surrounding the gurney were then closed while the technicians worked for 30 minutes to find another vein. Media witnesses later reported that they heard "moaning, crying out and guttural noises." Finally, death was pronounced almost 90 minutes after the execution began.
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