Missouri uses lethal injections during its executions. An inmate has filed suit against the state claiming that the lethal injection process is unconstitutionally cruel. Some of the problems alleged by the inmate and his attorney include the mechanism to deliver the lethal drugs, the Department of Correction's failure to perform the procedure consistently and its "disregard" for safety. Earlier an order issued by U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan Jr. ordered Missouri to reform its lethal injection procedures, including the use of a doctor specializing in anesthesia. Part of the problem with the executions and a part of the court case is that Missouri has been using Dr. Alan Doerhoff for the lethal injections. Dr. Doerhoff is allegedly dyslexic (he denies but says he sometimes transposes long numbers), a surgeon, and testified that he occasionally altered the amount of anesthetic given to the inmates during the executions. He also has allegedly been sued for malpractice more than 20 times.
During oral arguments in January 2007 Missouri had not ruled out using Dr. Doerhoff for future executions. Now the Attorney General for Missouri has notified the Court that the Department of Corrections has notified his office that it will no longer use Dr. Doerhoff for the executions. No explanation for this departure was given but a spokesman for the Department of Corrections stated that Dr. Doerhoff "can provide competent service." The letter by the Attorney General did not appease the inmate's attorney and a letter was filed in response stating that the removal of Dr. Doerhoff "does not cure the systemic problems afflicting Missouri's lethal injection procedure;" and that "In the absence of any explanation of why (Doerhoff) is departing now, it would appear that the DOC simply hopes to lull the Court into thinking that is problems are now in the past."
The PLoS Medicine online journal has published a report that found that the drugs used to execute United State's prisoners sometimes fail to work as planned which causes slow and painful deaths that probably do violate constitutional bans on cruel and unusual punishment. The report was based on a new medical review of dozens of executions.
It should also be noted that the Missouri House has passed legislation that will make it illegal for anyone, including newspapers and other publications, to knowingly disclose the identity of the members of the team that carries out the executions (such as Dr. Doerhoff, whose identity was kept secret for years). The legislation still has to pass the Senate.
It will be interesting to see how this case ends and what Missouri will do with future executions.
Source: Jefferson City News Tribune - State: Missouri surgeon won't be used in future executions by Cheryl Wittenauer
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