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Because lethal injection is considered the most humane method of execution, most of the 38 states with the death penalty have adopted some form of it. A prisoner is strapped to a gurney, and a chemical mixture is sent coursing through his veins. Unconsciousness occurs nearly instantaneously, and within minutes, there is a peaceful death. Or so we thought.
Lately, troubling questions have been raised about the deadly chemicals used and whether prisoners truly die without pain. It turns out that in most states, including Florida, the combination of substances used in a lethal injection procedure hasn't been independently analyzed or reviewed by medical professionals. Pretty much the same formula initially composed by a medical school professor in Oklahoma in 1977 has merely been copied from state to state.
Now, medical experts are saying that one of the chemicals, pancuronium bromide, may lead to a paralysis that hides the fact that inmates are actually awake as they painfully suffocate. The drug can put people into what has been described as a "chemical tomb" where they suffer terribly but cannot speak or move.
The use of the chemical to euthanize pets has been banned as cruel in Tennessee, but it may still be used in lethal injection.
Florida has a precise protocol for lethal injection. Prisoners are first given sodium pentothal, described as an ultra-short-acting barbiturate that causes unconsciousness; then doses of pancuronium bromide, for paralyzing the muscles; and finally potassium chloride, to stop the heart from beating.
As long as the sodium pentothal works properly and the other chemicals are administered quickly, death should come painlessly. But if there is an error in dosage or if the short-acting barbiturate wears off, the prisoner can be conscious and in severe pain but paralyzed and unable to speak out.
Medical experts say it isn't necessary to use pancuronium bromide to coax death. When animals are euthanized, they are typically given a lethal dose of sodium pentobarbital, a barbiturate that ends life painlessly. A variety of other alternatives are worthy of study.
In 2000, the Florida Supreme Court upheld the use of lethal injection against a challenge that it is cruel and unusual punishment, but the suit did not take issue with the chemicals used, only the procedure. There is no reason for the Department of Corrections to wait for another court challenge. The agency has the power to review and alter its execution practices and should do so.