Posted on 01/27/2011 7:48:15 AM PST by Brookhaven
Drugs used for lethal injection in the US which were supplied by a west London-based pharmaceutical company may have been defective, leading to potentially agonising deaths for prisoners, according to an expert on execution.
Dream Pharma, a small company run from the back of the Elgone Driving Agency in Horn Lane, Acton, west London, is understood to have supplied the anaesthetic sodium thiopental which was used in the execution of convicted murderer Emmanuel Hammond in Georgia on Tuesday.
Before the execution Mark Heath filed a sworn declaration which raised concerns over whether the thiopental sold to Georgia Department of Corrections "lacked efficacy".
He said it was "extremely troubling" that after triple-murderer Brandon Rhode was injected with thiopental during his execution in September, his eyes remained open. Some reports suggested his eyes darted around the room before staring blankly at the ceiling of the death chamber.
The thiopental used in his execution is also understood to have been supplied by Dream Pharma.
Dr Heath said this was "very unusual and surprising" and raised the concern that either the thiopental was incorrectly administered or the integrity of the drug was "significantly compromised".
Sodium thiopental is used first to induce a coma, followed by pancuronium bromide which paralyses the muscles, and potassium chloride which stops the heart.
Dr Heath said: "If the thiopental was inadequately effective Mr Rhode's death would certainly have been agonising. There is no dispute that the asphyxiation caused by pancuronium and the caustic burning sensation caused by potassium would be agonising in the absence of adequate anaesthesia."
He said the origin of the thiopental used in the executions was "highly unusual". He said the vials were labelled as having come from a company called Link Pharmaceuticals which became Archimedes Pharma in 2006, adding: "This raises the concern that the batch, if it is indeed thiopental, may contain expired thiopental."
Questioned ahead of Hammond's execution, Dream Pharma managing director Mehdi Alavi, who describes his company as an independent pharmaceutical wholesaler, said he did not want to comment on the matter.
Eventually there will be a device that will be in a shielded room that will incinerate a person in milliseconds, before they can even feel pain.
Instantly, painlessly and arguably with absolutely no doubt left of any accidents, just a very fine film of atomized particles.
Well, to guarantee it use a .22 or .25 like the Mafia does for hits up close.
Enough penetrating power to enter the skull, but not enough velocity to exit.
The bullet just ricochets around the inside of the ol’ bean and turns the brain into mashed potatoes.
I almost begged for that, I know.
LMAO
“Death row drugs ‘may be defective’”
Some of our politicians should volunteer themselves to see if this true.
“There is no dispute that the asphyxiation caused by pancuronium and the caustic burning sensation caused by potassium would be agonising in the absence of adequate anaesthesia.”
...sounds like justice to me.
That's why the Chinese do it outdoors?
Rope usually isn’t
yep. I am all for using the copper and brass, high speed injection to execute killers.
Probably cheaper too. End results are still the same.
Probably right about that.
I went in to have a liver biopsy. It’s not exactly pleasant. They take out 3 small pieces of my liver while awake. I did get a bit squirmy the last time they went it. The thought of what they were doing was making me queasy but, that was about it. One of the nurses said, she couldn’t believe I just laid there and let them do this, without so much as a whimper. Yet prisoners they bring in to have this procedure done, would make a big fuss about it, she said most of them acted like babies.
Death row drugs ‘may be defective’
.45 caliber is always effective
Air tight room. Or, to be quick and humane, pump in sleeping gas. No mess, no fuss. Plus, the body parts can be donated if the cretin wants to give back to society.
Good point.
I read an article about a prisoner in German who’s job it was to plug the hole that was made when German guards murdered prisoners. The hole was made by wooden bullets. The bullets apparently killed quickly because they would shatter and mush the brain. The hole was plugged with melted wax.
The horrible things humanity does to each other is frightening.
Certainly concerned about the comfort of convicted, cruel, murders,...or,
sedition [sɪˈdɪʃən] n
1. speech or behaviour directed against the peace of a state
2. (Law) an offence that tends to undermine the authority of a state
3. (Law) an incitement to public disorder
4. Archaic revolt
[from Latin sēditiō discord, from sēd- apart + itiō a going, from īre to go]
seditionary n & adj
There sure has been more press on this subject recently (or that I’ve noticed). The Austin Statesman has been running front page stories about the drug makers, the supplies, etc... I’ve wondered what, exactly, the agenda is with all of this somewhat concerted effort by the msm regarding the drugs used to euthanize the condemned.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.