Gotta convince one of my former companies to start providing the drugs again. I don't think the use of anonymous compounding pharmacies is a viable long-term solution. I feel like Hornady, RBCD, Lake City, and others would provide effective alternatives without hesitation.
Echo the thoughts and prayers for the family.
I have discussed this at length with others. There are a lot of political issues at play. Some of the best drugs for the job are not available because they are manufactured by companies who are anti death penalty (whether for their own beliefs or for fear of repercussions from the public). These companies say that they will not make their drugs available in the U.S. if they are used for executions. In addition, people who know how to administer the drugs in a clean and effective fashion are prohibited from participating in the process. For example, my certification board has stated that it will take away my "Diplomate" status if I were to participate related to the Hippocratic Oath of "first do no harm." I think nursing may have similar conflicts. So, you are left with non-medical people administering the drugs through IV's that have infiltrated, so the process takes 15-20 minutes and it is very uncomfortable to watch. Many would argue that they deserve to suffer, but I think they try their best to make it look clean. It would be very easy to formulate a plan that would be quick and painless and easy on the observers as well. They used to have that, but the availability of the proper drugs has become an issue. Specifically, propofol and pentothal. Pentothal is no longer manufactured and propofol distributors have threatened to cut off supply if it is used for this purpose. So, the prisoners are left with EMT level (at best) trained personnel to carry out the deed, and sometimes it gets pretty sloppy. Occasionally they try out new drug combinations, and that is a frequent source of the ugly lethal injections that you hear about on the news. If only they would ask someone who knew, they could avoid all of this.
In the old days, I think they used pentothal (for unconsciousness), pancuronium (to prevent muscle movement-looks cleaner) followed by potassium (to stop the heart). They would use orders of magnitude greater than normal doses of each drug to ensure effectiveness. Pretty effective overall.
I read the other day that they used midazolam (versed) and hydromorphone (dilaudid) for a lethal injection the other day and it went very poorly. I think anyone could have predicted that given their drug and dosage choices. All they would have had to do is add pancuronium and no one would have seen any muscle movement and it would have been more palatable for the family of the executed to watch. Still not sure why they let their family watch.
The process and the decisions each state make are fascinating and so often poorly thought out. Basically, they just need to ask someone who knows to give them a better recipe.
