Lethal Injection

There are many methods of capital punishment in the United States including lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, firing squad, and hanging. However, lethal injection has been deemed the most ethical method of capital punishment in the United States. Lethal injection is practiced in 33 of 50 states in the United States. The other 17 do not practice capital punishment (Death Penalty Information Center, 2016). Life in prison has reflected a better psychological and medical state of mind and body, therefore, is a much less cruel and unusual punishment.

The process of lethal injection in most states involves a sequence of three shots that are delivered through intravenous drips inserted in each arm. The procedure goes as follows;

The drug is a yellowish, hygroscopic powder, stabilized with anhydrous sodium carbonate as a buffer (RxList, 2017). This anesthetic is a fast-acting barbiturate (sleep-inducing drug) that slows the activity of the central nervous system. This shot is not an analgesic (pain killer) that numbs pain nerves, instead it rapidly puts a person into a state of unconsciousness that’s hypothetically deep enough to make pain undetectable. The drug amplifies the effect of GABA, a neurotransmitter that depresses brain activity. The shot blocks the actions of an excitatory brain receptor, AMPA, which acts in many parts of the brain. The state of unconsciousness can be reached in as little as 30 seconds. A single dose is intended to last throughout the last two injections to prevent any pain. The second injection follows a saline that is very quickly flushed through the intravenous line. Saline (a solution of salt in water) is a neutral substance commonly used to push a drug into the bloodstream more quickly. Then, pancuronium bromide is administered. It acts as a

The execution team spent 24 minutes unsuccessfully trying to insert an IV into Jones’ left arm, then 8 minutes trying to insert it in his right arm, and when that failed they again attempted to insert it in his left arm. Attempting numerous inserts on the same vein can be very painful for the patient and leave lasting bruising. Then, against several codes of medical ethics, the team’s physician spent 13 minutes inserting and stitching the IV near Jones’ groin. Six minutes later, a point at which the patient should be completely unconscious, Jones’ eyes popped wide open. This means that the drugs were not correctly administered into the bloodstream, we do not know how much pain Jones felt, and it resulted in an extended