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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

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.

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

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

Cross-species drugs have always existed.

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

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.

Crackpot wrote:Like they know that otherwise

Scooter wrote:"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.

Scooter wrote:"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.