Coughing, convulsing and calls for probe after Arkansas execution

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

U.S. | Fri Apr 28, 2017 | 3:23pm EDT

Coughing, convulsing and calls for probe after Arkansas execution

By Jon Herskovitz

A lawyer for an executed Arkansas death row inmate asked the state on Friday to investigate why his client coughed and convulsed on a death chamber gurney, saying a lethal injection drug may have been the cause.

Kenneth Williams was the fourth inmate put to death in eight days in the state, which before April had not carried out an execution in 12 years. Accounts of his execution on Thursday night raised fresh concerns about whether the sedative midazolam, a Valium-like drug, is effective in lethal injection mixes.

Witnesses said Williams, who admitted to killing four people, jerked and gasped for air for about 30 seconds a few minutes after his execution began. The state said it was a routine execution lasting about 15 minutes, but critics said something was amiss.

"It is not a normal reaction to therapeutic doses of midazolam," said Jonathan Groner, a professor of surgery at the Ohio State University College of Medicine who has testified against the drug's use in executions.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-arkansas-execution-idUSKBN17U2RL

[msongs]

1. the bible says thou shall not kill...somewhere in the bible it says that. nt

[JI7]

2. is this the one where the drug makers themselves said not to use it ?

[Docreed2003]

3. Using midazolam alone as a drug for leathal injection should be criminal...

I don't see how this could be considered anything other than cruel and unusual punishment, no matter what your position on capital punishment. You're basically forcing an overdose of this benzodiazepine and the results are as described: anoxia leading to convulsions and death. I truly have to wonder who approved this measure.