Die like a dog...

[Gob]

US inmate John Duty to be executed with animal drug A shortage of sodium thiopental in the US has forced Oklahoma to use pentobarbital instead Continue reading the main story

A prisoner on death row in the US state of Oklahoma for killing his cellmate in 2001 is due to be executed using a drug cocktail that includes a sedative typically used to euthanize animals.

John David Duty, 58, is set to become the first US inmate to be executed using the sedative pentobarbital.

He is scheduled to die at 1800 local time (0000 GMT) at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in the town of McAlester.

A shortage of sodium thiopental in the US forced the state make the change.

A judge's ruling to allow Oklahoma to substitute pentobarbital for sodium thiopental was upheld by a federal appeals court this week.

Sodium thiopental, an anaesthetic, is usually used in the state's lethal injection formula, which also includes drugs that paralyse muscles and stop the heart.

Lawyers representing Duty and two other death-row inmates argued during a court hearing in November that use of the sedative could be inhumane and that inmates could be conscious but paralysed when the other drugs were administered.

"No-one who has been put to death has come back and testified about what it felt like," said lawyer Jim Rowan, a board member of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Several of the 35 US states that use lethal injections are hunting for alternatives to sodium thiopental after Hospira, the sole US manufacturer of the drug, said new batches would not be available until early 2011.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12014323

[Sean]

Absolutely barking!

[Scooter]

Why don't we just return to the days when people were hung, drawn and quartered?

[Jarlaxle]

Several of the 35 US states that use lethal injections are hunting for alternatives to sodium thiopental after Hospira, the sole US manufacturer of the drug, said new batches would not be available until early 2011.

Seems to me a massive dose of morphine would work nicely.

[loCAtek]

So? Heroin was originally an equine tranquilizer, hence it's nickname 'Horse'.

Cross-species drugs have always existed.

[dales]

No tears here.

Dispatch with extreme prejudice by whatever means are available.

[Scooter]

Seems to me a massive dose of morphine would work nicely.

Too much risk of vomiting, which is a common reaction to morphine.

So? Heroin was originally an equine tranquilizer, hence it's nickname 'Horse'.

Heroin was originally thought to be less addictive than morphine and was used as a morphine substitute in humans. Far from having a tranquillizing effect in horses, it induces a flight response in them, causing them to run like mad. But thanks for bringing up this example which proves how very wrong it would be to assume that a drug will induce similar responses in humans as it does in animals.

Cross-species drugs have always existed.

But they are not used without testing them across species to ensure that they render the desired effect.

[loCAtek]

Wiki,it's commonly used as an euthanasia, execution is no stretch;

Human euthanasia

Pentobarbital has also been used for physician-assisted suicide. It is used in the US state of Oregon for this purpose.,[8] and is also used by the Swiss euthanasia group Dignitas. Pentobarbital was also used for this purpose in the Northern Territory of Australia, prior to euthanasia becoming illegal in that region.

In the Netherlands, a pentobarbital elixir is used for physician-assisted suicide (an alternative to euthanasia for patients who wish to take the barbiturate needed for the lethal cocktail themselves, instead of having it administered intravenously, in which case thiopental is used). Pentobarbital has no current therapeutic use in the Netherlands, and is only used for this purpose.

Typically, when orally ingested for euthanasia purposes, an antiemetic drug is swallowed approximately 30 minutes before the lethal overdose of pentobarbital. This is done because large concentrated doses of pentobarbital may cause vomiting.

In this role, pentobarbital is highly sought after by people wishing to end their lives but not allowed to do so under their country's laws. It is therefore often smuggled across borders from countries where it is still available over-the-counter such as Mexico, or purchased through illegal mail orders.[9]
[edit] Capital punishment

[Scooter]

Is it FDA approved for use as a general anesthetic (which is the purpose of sodium thiopental in executions)? No.

Why? Because of what your own source says is a common adverse reaction - in doses large enough to induce unconciousness, there is a risk of vomiting.

[BoSoxGal]

I was with my dog when the Vet put him to sleep; it was a peaceful end so far as I could tell, and having lived 40k+ hours with that animal, I'm pretty sure I knew him and his responses very well.

He sighed deeply, closed his eyes and was gone. I didn't see a bit of distress in the face or eyes I'd studied every expression of over the years.

That being said, I don't condone the death penalty. Let him rot in jail - maybe he'll get shanked by another inmate, which would be a more fitting end.

[Miles]

You all do understand the concept of a bullet in the back of the head is not only quick but very effective.

[oldr_n_wsr]

As long as one doesn't miss his mark.

[rubato]

Towards a kinder and gentler death penalty? We've condemned someone to die and then we're allowing him/her not to attend their own death? We're putting them to sleep first?

Idiocy.

If you're going to allow a death penalty then all that matters is the speed of the method. If the method is fast but appears savage and cruel to the spectators, and to the society which requires it, that is a good thing. Killing someone is savage and cruel and we should not try to make it look like it isn't. We should bring back the guillotine and require judges, jurors and prosecutors in capital cases to attend.

yrs,
rubato

[oldr_n_wsr]

Well they did it.

Oklahoma Executes Man With Drug Usually Used On Animals
Friday, December 17th, 2010 6:13 am

A sedative Oklahoma used yesterday to execute a death row inmate that is commonly used to euthanize animals could become more popular because of a nationwide shortage of a key ingredient in several states’ lethal injection formulas, death penalty experts tell the Associated Press. John Duty, 58, is believed to be the first U.S. inmate whose execution included the use of pentobarbital.

Oklahoma and several other states traditionally have used the barbiturate sodium thiopental to put an inmate to sleep, followed by two other drugs. Hospira Inc., the only U.S. manufacturer of sodium thiopental, said new batches of the drug could be available early next year. The firm blamed the shortage on problems with its raw-material providers. Oklahoma prisons spokesman Jerry Massie said after the execution that there did not appear to be any problems with the new drug.

[Scooter]

"Did not appear to be any problems with the new drug." Meaning that they have no way of knowing if the guy was fully conscious and yet unable to move or vocalize while other poisons which would cause extreme pain were shot into his veins.

[Crackpot]

Like they know that otherwise

[@meric@nwom@n]

Like they know that otherwise

Agreed.

[rubato]

"Did not appear to be any problems with the new drug." Meaning that they have no way of knowing if the guy was fully conscious and yet unable to move or vocalize while other poisons which would cause extreme pain were shot into his veins.

I'll take that as a vote for the guillotine.

yrs,
rubato

[Scooter]

It was obviously incredibly gruesome, but...

The French were looking for a method of execution that would be as quick and painless as possible, and I don't think any method conjured up since even comes close on that score.

Methods like lethal injection were meant to make execution look civilized. It isn't. It's barbaric. So why not use a method that demonstrates that if it also happens to be the most humane.

[Miles]

"Did not appear to be any problems with the new drug." Meaning that they have no way of knowing if the guy was fully conscious and yet unable to move or vocalize while other poisons which would cause extreme pain were shot into his veins.

Perhaps they monitored his blood pressure and heart rate which would indicate if he was in any extreme pain. On the other hand I for one certainly would not mind if he suffered. If it was decided that he needed to be dead because he killed someone I doubt very much if he was concerned with his victims well being.