# Method for lethal inection

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/method-for-lethal-inection/365507>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 21, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/method-for-lethal-inection/365507 "2006-07-21T17:37:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/method-for-lethal-inection/365507/1 "2006-07-21T17:37:38Z")

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There has been much talk in the news about the New Orleans hospital staff [accused of murder](http://www.abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2208093&page=1) by administering morphine and Versed.

Why don’t they just use that combination for executions by lethal injection? There has been conention that drugs like [potassium chloride](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/26/AR2006042602246.html) can cause excruciating pain. Why not just give them an overdose of morphine and Versed?

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**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/method-for-lethal-inection/365507/2 "2006-07-21T17:44:45Z")

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To administer morphine, you need to be a doctor. Doctors don’t do executions.

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**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/method-for-lethal-inection/365507/3 "2006-07-21T17:56:34Z")

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And for a liitle more detail, morphine is a [class II drug](http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/21cfr/cfr/1308/1308_12.htm).

The AMA [tells its members](http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/8419.html)

> [@](#):
>
> A physician, as a member of a profession dedicated to preserving life when there is hope of doing so, should not be a participant in a legally authorized execution.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/method-for-lethal-inection/365507/4 "2006-07-21T18:34:06Z")

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Hmmm, I see where this is going. But my cite says, "The anesthetic precedes a dose of a paralyzing agent; then comes potassium chloride, which burns the lining of the veins on its way to the heart. "

So who can adminster an anesthetic, a paralyzing agent, and potassium chloride? Who puts the needle in his arm? Doesn’t that require medical professionals?

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**Author:** ![Kebert\_Xela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a87d85/32.png) [@Kebert\_Xela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kebert_Xela)\
**Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/method-for-lethal-inection/365507/5 "2006-07-21T23:05:26Z")

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A doctor is usually present at the execution, they just aren’t involved in carrying it out.

And most capital punishment supporters don’t think executions should be painless… if they wanted to do it painlessly they could just put a person in a room and fill it with carbon monoxide.