US Executions Threaten Supply of Anaesthetic Used For Surgical Procedures 1160
ananyo writes "Allen Nicklasson has had a temporary reprieve. Scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in Missouri on 23 October, the convicted killer was given a stay of execution by the state's governor, Jay Nixon, on 11 October — but not because his guilt was in doubt. Nicklasson will live a while longer because one of the drugs that was supposed to be used in his execution — a widely used anesthetic called propofol — is at the center of an international controversy that threatens millions of U.S. patients, and affects the way that U.S. states execute inmates. Propofol, used up to 50 million times a year in U.S. surgical procedures, has never been used in an execution. If the execution had gone ahead, U.S. hospitals could have lost access to the drug because 90% of the U.S. supply is made and exported by a German company subject to European Union regulations that restrict the export of medicines and devices that could be used for capital punishment or torture. This is not the first time that the E.U.'s anti-death-penalty stance has affected the U.S. supply of anesthetics. Since 2011, a popular sedative called sodium thiopental has been unavailable in the United States. 'The European Union is serious,' says David Lubarsky, head of the anesthesiology department at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Florida. 'They've already shown that with thiopental. If we go down this road with propofol, a lot of good people who need anesthesia are going to be harmed.'"
Re:Hangings (Score:-1, Funny)
USA has plenty of bullets, I don't understand this entire thing, 1-3 head shots should be enough for anybody.
Re:Hangings (Score:5, Funny)
Why not just pull the warning labels off everything they use and let the problem sort itself out?
Re:Hangings (Score:5, Funny)
> Hangings
And with Europe cutting off rope supplies, this is another good reason to invigorate our domestic hemp production.
Re:Hangings (Score:5, Funny)
Oh sure, then you'll have psychopaths turning up as the only people who can't/won't try to avoid jury duty.
No, they're too busy "creating jobs".
Re:Hangings (Score:4, Funny)
Life imprisonment, while costly for society, seems to me the harsher punishment.
Life imprisonment gives time for the prison chaplain to help the prisoner find Jesus and thus go to heaven. Capital punishment makes it more likely the person will die a sinner and thus go to hell.
Well done, I can't tell if you are arguing in favour or against capital punishment :-)