Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> StandDown Texas Project

Criminal Law

: StandDown Texas Project

Oklahoma Wants to Swith Lethal Injection Anesthetic

By Steve Hall

Today's Wall Street Journal reports, "Plea for Execution Drug."  It's written by Nathan Koppel. Oklahoma is preparing to argue in court next week that a drug used to euthanize animals can also be used to execute death row inmates amid a nationwide shortage of an anesthetic used in executions. It is one of a number of states scrambling to find the drugs needed to perform capital punishment due to a shortage of thiopental sodium, the only anesthetic that states have so far used in lethal injections, according to lawyers. And: Oklahoma, which is scheduled to execute John David Duty on Dec. 16, has said that veterinarians regard pentobarbital, which it is proposing as a substitute anesthetic for death row inmates, "as an ideal anesthetic agent for humane euthanasia in animals," that is "substantially" similar to thiopental, according to a court filing last month...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on November 09, 2010 (boomark / email).