Post by SoulTrainOz on Jul 4, 2006 23:38:07 GMT -5
Doctors shouldn't help put inmates to death by lethal injection or work with the legal system to ensure condemned inmates feel no pain at execution, the president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists is telling his colleagues.
"The legal system has painted itself into this corner and it is not our obligation to get it out," Dr. Orin F. Guidry, president of the
40,000-member group, wrote in a message posted Friday on the
organization's Web site.
Patients could lose trust in their doctors if they see them as
executioners, he wrote. He also cited the American Medical Association's stance against doctors participating in executions.
Guidry said Monday that he posted the statement in response to a federal judge's order halting executions in Missouri until the state's Department of Corrections reforms its system and finds board-certified anesthesiologists to oversee lethal injections.
The judge gave Missouri until July 15 to make sweeping changes to ensure that condemned prisoners aren't subjected to unconstitutional pain and suffering.
But doctors risk violating medical ethics if they assist, so finding
willing anesthesiologists has been difficult for the state. Missouri's
Corrections Department Director Larry Crawford said after the ruling last week that his office had been unable to find a single board-certified anesthesiologist who would participate.
Guidry's statement may make that search even more difficult, said Wanda Seeney, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Corrections.
Guidry said that while putting an anesthesiologist in the death chamber might help ensure inmates don't feel pain, courts should not expect doctors to violate their principles.
"The potential is for anesthesiologists to be caught in the middle of this and I want them to have as much information as they can," Guidry said from his New Orleans office in an interview with The Associated Press. "My advice would be to be well informed on the subject and steer clear."
Attorneys fighting lethal injection in several states have asserted that a favored mix of drugs can cause condemned inmates extreme pain. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that inmates on death row can challenge lethal injection as a civil rights issue.
The federal government and most death-penalty states use the same 3 drugs to carry out lethal injections: thiopental as a sedative, pancuronium bromide to stop breathing and potassium chloride to stop the heart.
A 2005 study published in the Lancet medical journal questioned whether states were giving enough thiopental to prevent pain. Researchers studied autopsy reports from 4 states and found that in the blood of 21 out of 49 executed prisoners there wasn't enough thiopental to bring about unconsciousness.
On the Net:----American Society of Anesthesiologists:
www.asahq.org/
(source: Associated Press)
"The legal system has painted itself into this corner and it is not our obligation to get it out," Dr. Orin F. Guidry, president of the
40,000-member group, wrote in a message posted Friday on the
organization's Web site.
Patients could lose trust in their doctors if they see them as
executioners, he wrote. He also cited the American Medical Association's stance against doctors participating in executions.
Guidry said Monday that he posted the statement in response to a federal judge's order halting executions in Missouri until the state's Department of Corrections reforms its system and finds board-certified anesthesiologists to oversee lethal injections.
The judge gave Missouri until July 15 to make sweeping changes to ensure that condemned prisoners aren't subjected to unconstitutional pain and suffering.
But doctors risk violating medical ethics if they assist, so finding
willing anesthesiologists has been difficult for the state. Missouri's
Corrections Department Director Larry Crawford said after the ruling last week that his office had been unable to find a single board-certified anesthesiologist who would participate.
Guidry's statement may make that search even more difficult, said Wanda Seeney, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Corrections.
Guidry said that while putting an anesthesiologist in the death chamber might help ensure inmates don't feel pain, courts should not expect doctors to violate their principles.
"The potential is for anesthesiologists to be caught in the middle of this and I want them to have as much information as they can," Guidry said from his New Orleans office in an interview with The Associated Press. "My advice would be to be well informed on the subject and steer clear."
Attorneys fighting lethal injection in several states have asserted that a favored mix of drugs can cause condemned inmates extreme pain. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that inmates on death row can challenge lethal injection as a civil rights issue.
The federal government and most death-penalty states use the same 3 drugs to carry out lethal injections: thiopental as a sedative, pancuronium bromide to stop breathing and potassium chloride to stop the heart.
A 2005 study published in the Lancet medical journal questioned whether states were giving enough thiopental to prevent pain. Researchers studied autopsy reports from 4 states and found that in the blood of 21 out of 49 executed prisoners there wasn't enough thiopental to bring about unconsciousness.
On the Net:----American Society of Anesthesiologists:
www.asahq.org/
(source: Associated Press)