Board debates doctors at executions

[SoulTrainOz]

The state board that licenses doctors will consider a policy that governs physicians' attendance at executions, even if only as observers.

A committee of the N.C. Medical Board on Wednesday recommended a policy that "physician participation in capital punishment is a departure from the ethics of the medical profession within the meaning" of state statutes.

However, the committee said it also recognizes that state law requires a physician to be present during executions. Physicians who observe an execution should not be disciplined, the committee said.

"However, any physician who engages in any verbal or physical activity that facilitates the execution may be subject to discipline," the statement says.

A doctor employed by the prison system attends executions at Central Prison in Raleigh.

The full board will consider the policy either today or Friday, said
Thomas Mansfield, director of the legal department for the medical board.

The committee struggled with the conflict between state law and the strict American Medical Association position, said Dr. Art McCulloch, chairman of the medical board's policy committee and a Charlotte anesthesiologist.

The AMA equates the presence of a doctor with participating.

The issue arose after physicians wrote the board earlier this year seeking guidance because a condemned prisoner's lawyers asked that an anesthesiologist be present at his execution. The prison system decided, with court approval, to use instead a machine to monitor the man's consciousness.

A doctor and a nurse are present during executions in a room near the execution chamber where they watch heart and consciousness monitors.

McCulloch said board investigators will ask the Department of Correction whether doctors have ever done anything other than observe an execution.

Dr. Charles Vanderhorst, a professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told the committee that it should take a firm stand in the policy sent to the board.

"Ethics is not a popularity contest," Vanderhorst said. "Your job is to just regulate what physicians do and physicians just don't kill people."

Vanderhorst said the presence of a doctor is an invitation for officials to ask for help.

(source: Associated Press)

[SoulTrainOz]

Decision Delayed On Physician Participation At State Executions

The North Carolina Medical Board's official position on doctors'
participation in executions has been delayed until Friday.

A committee of the medical board on Wednesday recommended a policy that "physician participation in capital punishment is a departure from the ethics of the medical profession within the meaning" of state statutes.

However, the committee said it also recognizes that state law requires a physician to be present during executions. Physicians who observe an execution should not be disciplined, the committee said.

Participation is against the ethical guidelines of the American Medical Association, who equate the presence of a doctor with participation.

The issue arose after physicians wrote the board earlier this year seeking guidance because a condemned prisoner's lawyers asked that an anesthesiolgist be present at his execution. The prison system decided, with court approval, to use instead a machine to monitor the man's consciousness.

In addition, a doctor and a nurse are present during executions in a room near the execution chamber where they watch heart and consciousness monitors.

The board is expected to approve a policy that prohibits doctors from taking an active role in the procedure.

(source: Associated Press)

[SoulTrainOz]

NC board approves policy limiting doctors' role in executions

The Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. - The state licensing board for doctors moved Friday toward adopting a policy that limits a doctor's role during an execution to that of an observer.

Without comment on a voice vote, the North Carolina Medical Board unanimously approved a proposed policy that spells out a physician's role in state executions. State law requires the presence of a doctor, so a physician observing an execution couldn't be disciplined, according to the policy.

The policy will be published and comments received for two to three months before the board takes it up for a final vote, said Dr. Art McCulloch, a Charlotte anesthesiologist who is chairman of the policy committee.

Under the proposed policy, "physician participation in capital punishment is a departure from the ethics of the medical profession."

"This board will not discipline licensees for merely being present at an execution," McCulloch explained during the brief session. "Any physician who engages in any verbal or physical activity that facilitates the execution may be subject to disciplinary action."

A doctor employed by the prison system attends executions at Central Prison in Raleigh.

The board decided to consider a policy after several doctors wrote earlier this year seeking guidance when a condemned inmate's attorneys asked a judge to require that an anesthesiologist be present at their client's execution.
The lawyers contended only an anesthesiologist could determine if an inmate was unconscious before lethal drugs were given, but the judge said the prison doctor was sufficient.

The Department of Correction decided with the judge's approval to use a consciousness monitor along with a heart monitor during the April 21 execution of Willie Brown Jr. A readout from the device was fed into the doctor's viewing room that looks into the death chamber.

McCulloch said earlier this week that his committee was torn between the state law and the strict American Medical Association, which equates the presence of a doctor with participating.

At Wednesday's committee, a retired medical professor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said he was opposed to any physician presence at an execution. Dr. Arthur Finn said the law requiring a doctor to be present puts a physician in a difficult ethical situation.

Source : Associated Press

www.fayettevillenc.com/local/article_ap?id=88662

[SoulTrainOz]

N.C. Medical Board Favors Ban On Doctors Aiding Executions

The state licensing board for doctors gave initial approval Friday to a policy blocking doctors from actively participating in executions, addressing an issue that has weighed heavily on medical professionals in many states.

The North Carolina Medical Board is expected to take a final vote on the proposed policy in 2 or 3 months, after receiving comments.

Under the proposed policy, "physician participation in capital punishment is a departure from the ethics of the medical profession."

State law requires a doctor to be present at executions, but the proposal, which the board approved unanimously, would prohibit physicians from doing anything but observing.

"This board will not discipline licensees for merely being present at an execution," said Art McCulloch, a Charlotte anesthesiologist who is chairman of the board's policy committee.

The proposed policy is less strict than the stance of the American Medical Association, which equates the presence of a doctor with participation.

A doctor employed by the prison system attends executions at Central Prison in Raleigh, but a prison official would not say exactly what he does.

The AMA has long opposed physician involvement in executions, and the president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists has advised his group's members to "steer clear" of helping states put condemned criminals to death.

(source: Washington Post)