To declare that there is nothing medical about killing this way is like declaring that the Earth is flat.

Ladies:

You play doctor better than Dr X! One problem: The Kalium Chloride
is the bad guy; it is extremely caustic, causes a chemical burn to
all tissues it contacts. The pancuronium bromide is toxic, but
minimally compared to the pancuronium.

In all probability they used an intercath, which is a needle used to
puncture, and the plastic catheter threaded on it with needle coming
out. Either can perforate (=infiltrate) the vein, spewing poison out
into the fatty tissue and muscle in the arm. Given approximately 20
milliliters of concentrated solution (a guess on my part) pushed as a
bolus, close to the entire amount will be deposited in the soft
tissue, to be eventually absorbed by an intact vein.

If Dr Hamilton collected any of this fluid, and tested it for both
the pancuronium and the Kalium Chloride. the presence of either or
both would indicate that the infiltration was ante mortem. Of the
perforation happened post-mortem, This assumes that all systems were
go during the execution and : it would not take 34 minutes to kill
Diaz, and no pancuronium or KCl would be found in the fluid, since it
was all washed out with the Sodium Chloride

If he cannot use histochemistry, Dr Hamilton can test for the
presence of kalium easily.

Everyone forgets that the thiopental is not a pain killer; just see
what it does not do to women in labor! Besides, it is a first run
drug, meaning that it does its work starting within one trip around
the blood stream, attaches to the GABA receptors in the brain within
seconds, but leaves almost a quickly with a therapeutic half life of
about 2-4 hours, meaning that it loses its effect in short time. This
prompted North Carolina to give a second dose of thiopental after the
delivery of the pancuronium, when the executions took too long.

To declare that there is nothing medical about killing this way is
like declaring that the Earth is flat. Everything from the equipment
to the poisons used (they all have legitimate medical use, although
barbiturates are being less used), and the drugs are delivered via a
medical procedure. To think that a doctor can look at an EEG in this
setting and determine that the inmate is in pain, is an illusion to
satisfy the Goons attempt to further sterilize the whole thing.
Even if the doctor was able to" see pain", the North Carolina law
forbids him/her from saying so to the executioners.

Florida has gotten itself deeper into a catch-22 and although a total
whitewash is expected, no rational person will believe that Mr Diaz
didn't suffer intensely.

These conclusions are based in part on speculation.

G M Larkin MD
Charlotte NC-USA