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NATIONAL COALITION TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY

PRESS RELEASE

CONTACT:

David Elliot, NCADP Communications Director

202-543-9577, ext. 16

cell phone: 202-607-7036

delliot@ncadp.org

 www.ncadp.org

920 Pennsylvania Ave. SE

Washington, D.C. 20003

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NCADP RAISES CONCERN ABOUT LETHAL INJECTION

PROCESS IN LIGHT OF MEDICAL JOURNAL REPORT

The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty today

expressed concern over a medical journal report that suggests that in a

significant number of cases, condemned prisoners are likely conscious as

lethal drugs stop their heart and lungs from functioning.

Today a prestigious British medical journal, The Lancet, published an

article authored by three U.S. anesthesiologists and one lawyer. The article

suggested that some people may be awake and able to feel pain during the

execution process, despite the administration of sodium thiopental, which

is designed to render a person unconscious while two other drugs are given.

The authors studied toxicology reports from 49 executed inmates - seven in

Arizona, eight in Georgia, 11 in North Carolina and 23 in South Carolina.

They found that 43 out of the 49 inmates had post-mortem blood thiopental

levels below that required for surgery. And 21 inmates had levels consistent

with awareness. "Thus," the authors concluded, "lethal injection anesthesia

methodology is flawed and some inmates might have experienced awareness and

suffering during execution."

Diann Rust-Tierney, NCADP executive director, said the report "adds to a

growing list of concerns about how the death penalty really works."

"This report suggests that in a disturbing number of cases, states may be

violating the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment by slowly

suffocating prisoners while they are awake," Rust-Tierney said. "Clearly

we need to take a closer look at this issue. No lethal injection executions

should take place if there is a possibility that we are engaging in death

by the torture of suffocation."

In most states, lethal injection executions consist of administration of

three drugs. First, sodium thiopental is administered to render the prisoner

unconscious. Then, pancuronium bromide is administered to cause paralysis.

Finally, potassium chloride is given to stop the heart, thus causing

death. "Without anesthesia," the authors write, "the condemned person

would experience asphyxiation, a severe burning sensation, massive muscle

cramping and finally cardiac arrest. Thus anesthesia is necessary both to

mitigate the suffering of the condemned and to preserve public opinion

that lethal injection is a near-painless death."

The article was authored by Leonidas G. Koniaris, Teresa A. Zimmers and

David A. Lubarsky of  the University of Miami School of Medicine and

Virginia attorney Jonathan P. Sheldon.

NOTE TO EDITORS, REPORTERS AND PRODUCERS: To obtain a copy of the report

please email David Elliot at delliot@ncadp.org or call 202-543-9577.

To read a University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine press

release on the report, please visit http://www.med.miami.edu/news/view.asp?id=395

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The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty was founded

in 1976 and is the only fully-staffed national organization

devoted specifically to abolishing the death penalty. NCADP is

comprised of more than 100 local, state, national and international

affiliates.

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