As an update to this thread for those interested, Ohio executed it’s first inmate Thursday with their alternative drug protocol, due to the lack of availability for the protocol’s preferred drug, pentobarbital. They used a combination of midazolam and hydromorphone. According to multiple news articles covering this topic, the inmate, Dennis McGuire, took approximately 26 minutes to die (the longest on record in Ohio, at least since the death penalty resumed in Ohio 15 years ago) and is reported to have struggled to breathe for over 10 minutes. The articles also note that usually, the struggle happens almost immediately and is quickly followed by inactivity before death, while this time the inmate lay quietly for the first 5 minutes, then noisily struggled for a prolonged period of time, before his struggles ended and was ruled dead.
Source 1: Dayton Daily News
Source 2: Associated Press
It is interesting to see that unlike other states, Ohio was apparently not able to secure a source of compounded pentobarbital. I’m curious as to whether or not they could find a pharmacy or pharmacist willing to make the product in the first place, or if they all refused, assuming they were even approached. I’m guessing we’ll probably never know (unless it comes out in court documents in the upcoming lawsuit the McGuire family is reportedly filing). Hopefully the manufacturers of midazolam and hydromorphone don’t block or are incapable of blocking the supply of these two drugs in response to Ohio’s actions, like the manufacturer of pentobarbital did, as they are routinely used in all kinds of medical procedures (unlike pentobarbital, which is infrequently used, FWIR). If the family’s lawsuit to stop the use of this combination in lethal injections fails, though, it wouldn’t surprise me to see a pharmacist use a reason of conscience to refuse to dispense those drugs to the Ohio Department of Corrections. I would consider refusing for reasons of conscience, were I in that situation, though I also have a speculative rationale for his response to the drug cocktail used which would also play into my decision to dispense or not.