Ohio To Use More Benzodiazepine To Kill Citizens... USA! USA!

April 29, 2014

 

"The DRC said it would increase the midazolam from 10 mg to 50 mg and the hydromorphone from 40 to 50 mg..."

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/29/us-usa-execution-ohio-idUSBREA3S09620140429

 

I wonder what the midazolam to clonazepam equivalency is.

A day or two after I posted this Oklahoma, perhaps not learning from Ohio, botched the execution of Clayton D. Lockett.  The execution was halted but he died later of a heart attack. 

 

For readers across the pond who may not be up to date on all things execution Rachel Maddow did a fine job last night shedding light on the American journey from the preferred but unattainable anesthetic (anaesthetic UK), to pentobarbitol (pentobarbitone UK), to the cocktail being used today that includes the benzodiazepine midazolam, a sedative.

 

Link to video:

http://player.theplatform.com/p/2E2eJC/EmbeddedOffSite?guid=n_maddow_1drug_140430

 

 

 

 

I would avoid lethal injections in the USA until we can get this sorted out... unless you're a dog, cat, or horse in which case we'll competently and humanely put you down quick. 

 

 

 

 

Is embedding not an option here?  That link looks quirky because I took it from the intended imbeded code that looks like this -

<iframe src='http://player.theplatform.com/p/2E2eJC/EmbeddedOffSite?guid=n_maddow_1drug_140430' height='500' width='635' scrolling='no' border='no' ></iframe>

 

 

But I don't know how to embed video here... if it's even a possibility.

'Don't forget victim in Ohio execution' by Steve Huntley, January 20, 2014

Chicago Sun-Times

 

http://www.suntimes.com/news/huntley/25073876-452/dont-forget-victim-in-ohio-execution.html#.U2O5P0BIW9I

 

With permission from the author.

Hi,

don't you kinda sorta wonder if we've taken lethal amounts of benzos over time....

hypothetically speaking of course.

Iggy 

'Don't forget victim in Ohio execution' by Steve Huntley, January 20, 2014

Chicago Sun-Times

 

http://www.suntimes.com/news/huntley/25073876-452/dont-forget-victim-in-ohio-execution.html#.U2O5P0BIW9I

 

With permission from the author.

 

There is no mention of a benzodiazepine in the article you linked to.  This thread is not intended to be a debate over capitol punishment, rather how foreign drug manufacturers in opposition to the state sanctioned execution of prisoners in the United States have cut off the supply of the state's preferred drugs.  An action that subsequently has led to the states using midazolam, a benzodiazepine, to sedate and aid in the termination of life.

 

Having been harmed by a medication (clonazepam) that shares a classification with a drug used in a three part cocktail designed to kill I felt it worthwhile to mention.

 

Hi,

don't you kinda sorta wonder if we've taken lethal amounts of benzos over time....

hypothetically speaking of course.

Iggy 

 

What frightens me is that the dose of midazolam given to prisoners before execution might not even be enough to kill my tinnitus, let alone properly sedate me even 27 months out from completion of my taper.  Seeing that some states are using 50 MG of Midazolam seems more efficacious.

 

If justice through revenge is a desire goal benzodiazepine could be forcibly administrated multiple times daily to inmates awaiting execution immediately after sentencing.  A physical dependency would be created through years of daily exposure to benzodiazepine.  Then at the time of their execution the drug could be abruptly stopped thrusting their nervous systems into shock.  However this might not result in termination of life.  They could end up damaged but not dead in a state of debilitating protracted withdrawal for years.  This would be illegal as it would be considered "cruel and unusual punishment."  I speak from experience when I say it is indeed cruel and unusual punishment.

Wow, Triste. What a thoughtful post.

 

Iggy

10mg Versed (midazolam) is nothing, certainly not enough to use for lethal injection. It's equivilent to about 25mg valium. 50mg Versed (IV) would be about 125mg valium.  Whoever did the calcs on those lethal injections ought to be examined.

10mg Versed (midazolam) is nothing, certainly not enough to use for lethal injection. It's equivilent to about 25mg valium. 50mg Versed (IV) would be about 125mg valium.  Whoever did the calcs on those lethal injections ought to be examined.

 

Thank's for the responses guys/gals.  I agree that an equivalent of 25mg valium is blatantly insufficient at sedating a subject set to be executed for any duration of time.  While that may be adequate for a non-evasive surgical procedure it is not enough for an execution, especially if the subject has a history of sedative use.