# Why isn't anesthesia used for executions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 3, 2022, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865 "2022-02-03T18:25:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SpacemanSpiff\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@SpacemanSpiff\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpacemanSpiff_II)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865/1 "2022-02-03T18:25:59Z")
There’s been a lot of moral and legal issues surrounding legal executions, much of it surrounding methods of execution which are thought to be or legally considered cruel and unusual. Question I’m wondering about is why not just use anesthesia to painlessly put the guy completely out cold, and then whatever happens after that won’t be felt? I don’t recall ever seeing this issue raised, but it’s a pretty simple idea so it must have been considered and rejected (which is why I’m putting this in FQ). ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865/2 "2022-02-03T18:31:29Z")
Because anesthesiologists tend not to approve of using their training to kill people. ---
**Author:** ![SpacemanSpiff\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@SpacemanSpiff\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpacemanSpiff_II)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865/3 "2022-02-03T18:38:58Z")
“tend to”. Even if that’s accurate, it doesn’t answer the question. There are a lot of anesthesiologists around, and executions are very rare. All you need is one. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865/4 "2022-02-03T18:40:35Z")
Already done to death here: > [@Another Lethal injection question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-lethal-injection-question/921254): > > A story on NPR pointed out that many people executed by lethal injection may suffer, violating the “cruel and unusual punishment” forbidden by the US Constitution. There is seemingly a problem with the combinations of chemicals used. Why don’t executioners use whatever drug is used to knock patients out for surgery on prisoners, and simply cut their wrists? > [@In America, can a death row prisoner ask to be knocked unconscious before execution](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-america-can-a-death-row-prisoner-ask-to-be-knocked-unconscious-before-execution/805558/12): > > There’s also the issue that general anesthesia won’t work for an execution. The sort of anesthesia usually used in surgery and such doesn’t actually prevent you from feeling pain. It just prevents you from remembering pain. For a surgery, that’s just as good, but someone getting executed isn’t going to remember it afterwards anyway, no matter what you do. > [@General anesthetic prior to death sentence?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-anesthetic-prior-to-death-sentence/687403/3): > > Finding a qualified health professional willing to put someone under anesthesia so they can be killed. Said professionals are expected to use their skills to meet the patient’s legitimate medical needs or desires, not to serve the state to help execute people. That really undermines confidence in your practitioner! > [@Pain During Executions?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-during-executions/530646): > > First…a bit of background: I had a colonoscopy and endoscopy done last week…procedures that are now performed under anesthesia. The anesthesiologist was a very personable guy who went over a long check-list of questions with me before wheeling me into the room where the intrusive tubes were waiting. I had an IV in when I entered the room…and the doctor who was going to perform the procedures was already there. “Turn on your side” were the first words I heard; “Okay, I’m gonna put to sleep” fo… > [@Best and/or least offensive methods of execution](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-or-least-offensive-methods-of-execution/714966/2): > > Anesthesia overdose and/or nitrogen asphyxiation. > [@Execution by lethal injection](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/execution-by-lethal-injection/693894/76): > > So would you find execution by overdose-of-anesthesia acceptable? > [@Death Penalty & Euthanasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty-euthanasia/733963/20): > > If this was the case, wouldn’t we hear about pre-surgery anesthesia for inmates constantly going badly? Nope. This claim is untrue whatever the manner of execution, unless we’re talking about “breaking on the wheel” (used only in a few states). > [@Execution by lethal injection](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/execution-by-lethal-injection/784794/17): > > In addition to the quick painless methods listed above the doomed prisoner could be put under with conventional anesthesia and never know it’s coming. If the public wants a spectacle just use a guillotine. Drugs are highly unreliable but there’s no real compromise between the factions that want executions to be quick and painless and those that desire suffering. The condemned could also be given the convenient means to do themselves in but the political problems are even worse. Carbon monoxide c… > [@Why is executing someone painlessly difficult?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-executing-someone-painlessly-difficult/723932/9): > > The short answer is no. Administering gas-only anesthetics is difficult. There are stages to the body reaching that peaceful looking anesthetic plane, and one of them is the “excitement stage.” That’s the one where the patient starts leaping around and gasping. It’s why it’s been deemed, at the very least, unusual. I use this method occasionally with cats when they’re feral or otherwise untouchable and giving them an IM shot of another anesthetic isn’t possible for some reason. It’s not a fun p… > [@Critique this execution method](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-execution-method/645470/16): > > Give them a pill or injection that renders them unconscious. Wood chipper. Blunt axes. Lawnmowers. Thrown from helicopter. Torn apart by hungry pigs. It doesn’t matter because the victim is unconscious, and so can’t be said to suffer. Once they’re unconscious, which can be achieved any number of humane ways, and can’t in itself be viewed as inhumane since we sleep every night (and perform dental work and surgery under anesthesia), anything you do to render them dead is humane because they… > [@Can Big Pharma kill the death penalty?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-big-pharma-kill-the-death-penalty/672150/11): > > Antibob says it, almost. There are ten thousand ways to kill people. Anti-DPers have gotten the laws written so that only fresh, specially-compounded, specific substances can be used for executions… and guess what, all the stocks of those are now outdated and can’t be used. How sad. It’s not about the chemicals. It’s about the politics, and groups that use any tiny chiseling point to control a major issue. (I don’t think anyone really, really gives a shit about spotted owls or Mission Blue butt… ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865/5 "2022-02-03T18:42:51Z")
> [@SpacemanSpiff\_II](#): > > There’s been a lot of moral and legal issues surrounding legal executions, much of it surrounding methods of execution which are thought to be or legally considered cruel and unusual. Question I’m wondering about is why not just use anesthesia to painlessly put the guy completely out cold, and then whatever happens after that won’t be felt? The first drug of the lethal injection protocol is a sedative (or combination of sedatives, depending on the protocol) that sedates and knocks out the condemned. Not sure if that counts as “anaesthesia” strictly speaking, but it seems to fit in the context of your question. As to why it’s not used in other forms of execution, that’s a little more complicated. Some believe that the condemned deserves to suffer because he deserves it. Some believe that the _spectators_ deserve to suffer in the hopes of nurturing disgust for capital punishment. Either way, there are many ways executions could be made simple and painless, but there seems to be minimal interest in pursuing that. ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865/6 "2022-02-03T18:50:39Z")
My understanding is that the drug manufacturers won’t sell the drugs needed for lethal injections to the prisons. They don’t want their medication to be associated with death. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865/7 "2022-02-03T19:23:23Z")
A statement from the American Society of Anesthesiologists: > **[​Statement on Physician Nonparticipation in Legally Authorized Executions](https://www.asahq.org/standards-and-guidelines/statement-on-physician-nonparticipation-in-legally-authorized-executions)** ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865/8 "2022-02-03T19:31:03Z")
The surprising thing (to me) is the weaselly statement “ASA strongly discourages participation by anesthesiologists in executions” after going into how lethal injection gives anaesthesiology a bad name. As opposed to a clear stance like “ASA will expel and blackball any anaesthesiologist found to participate in executions.” ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865/9 "2022-02-03T19:35:07Z")
IIRC, there was a bizarre Supreme Court decision about this about 40-some years ago. They decided that the condemned person must be awake and must experience his execution. They decided that it was “cruel and unusual punishment” otherwise. There was no comprehensible logic to this decision. Go figure. (Note that this seems inconsistent with the modern three-drug lethal injection protocol. I’m not sure if lethal injection was a thing at the time of this decision. It made no sense anyway.) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865/10 "2022-02-03T19:37:52Z")
> [@SpacemanSpiff\_II](#): > > There are a lot of anesthesiologists around, and executions are very rare. All you need is one. Or equivalently, get an anesthesiologist or doctor to perform the execution. There must surely be a few around who are willing to do the deed. They could be traveling executioneer/doctors, going from state to state for their occasional gigs. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865/11 "2022-02-03T19:43:48Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > IIRC, there was a bizarre Supreme Court decision about this about 40-some years ago. They decided that the condemned person must be awake and must experience his execution. They decided that it was “cruel and unusual punishment” otherwise. Can you cite that? I’ve looked and I can’t find anything resembling that description. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865/12 "2022-02-03T19:45:20Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Can you cite that? I’ve looked and I can’t find anything resembling that description. Sorry, no. It was 40-some years ago, long before everything was on-line. There may be some archived copy around, but I can’t think of what the right search terms might be. (ETA: All I can find about the Supreme Court and execution is more recent stuff that isn’t relevant to this point.) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865/13 "2022-02-03T19:47:53Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Or equivalently, get an anesthesiologist or doctor to perform the execution. There must surely be a few around who are willing to do the deed. There was a movie about one Albert Pierrepoint, who was a professional hangman who executed hundreds of people. To be constrasted with the U.S. Army who brought in a [psycho](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Woods) who botched a bunch of executions. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865/14 "2022-02-03T20:01:37Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Sorry, no. It was 40-some years ago, long before everything was on-line. There may be some archived copy around, but I can’t think of what the right search terms might be. Pretty much, every SCOTUS dec is available online. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865/15 "2022-02-04T01:13:08Z")
> [@pudytat72](#): > > My understanding is that the drug manufacturers won’t sell the drugs needed for lethal injections to the prisons. They don’t want their medication to be associated with death. And they could go to the impound office, grab that kilo of heroin and shoot the prisoner up, massive overdose, disposing of illegal drugs in one fell swoop, efficiency in action =) ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865/16 "2022-02-04T07:11:45Z")
Shucks, forget the heroin, go straight for the fentanyl. It seems to be tailor made for efficient executions. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865/17 "2022-02-04T10:40:37Z")
Right, look how easy it is to OD fentanyl! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865/18 "2022-02-04T16:19:59Z")
[Moderating] What the authorities could do is a valid topic for FQ. But this is veering towards discussion of what they should do, which is not a valid topic. Please stay factual. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865/19 "2022-02-04T19:11:49Z")
Replying to the OP - a lot of drugs are not manufactured in the US, but in EU countries. The EU has placed a ban on selling drugs for the purpose of executions. That means that if the States start using regular anaesthesia as part of the execution, the EU may put an embargo on anaesthesia drugs being sold to the US generally, which potentially affects health care across the US, if there’s suddenly a shortage of anaesthesia. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2022, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865/20 "2022-02-05T17:43:58Z")
Well, the formulas for making the various drugs are known, it isn’t rocket science to make them, we have the ability to build a small lab making the drugs - how about over at Ft Meade, or any other government installation with a decent chem lab. And don’t give me patent issues - people steal US patents all the freaking time. Though as I said just draw the fentanyl or heroin from the evidence locker and have at it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anesthesia-used-for-executions/958865.md?page=2)