Posted on 01/19/2022 1:45:05 PM PST by ransomnote
States can still use the sedative drug midazolam in lethal injections, according to today's Supreme Court decision. But how exactly does the drug work, and why do some say that it's unreliable?
In a 5-to-4 vote, the court ruled that using midazolam does not violate the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits "cruel and unusual punishment." In executions, the drug has been used to induce unconsciousness before other drugs are administered to stop an inmate's breathing and stop the heart.
However, midazolam was involved in several botched executions last year, including the case of Clayton Lockett from Oklahoma, who lived for about 45 minutes after he was administered drugs for lethal injection, and was seen convulsing and writhing before dying of a heart attack. (It was later determined that the IV line used to deliver the drugs in Lockett's execution was not properly placed.)
In another controversial execution in Ohio, which also used midazolam, the inmate seemed unconscious at first, but then made loud snorting and choking noises before being pronounced dead, according to the New York Times. The combination of drugs used in the Ohio case had not previously been used in an execution.
The defendants who brought the case before the Supreme Court, who are all death row inmates, had argued that midazolam could not reliably induce unconsciousness. The drug is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use as an anesthetic by itself. [Mistaken Identity? 10 Contested Death Penalty Cases]
The drug slows down brain activity, which allows for relaxation and sleep, according to the National Institutes of Health. And the drug is sometimes used before medical procedures, or before anesthesia is given, to cause drowsiness, relieve anxiety and prevent a person from remembering a procedure, the NIH says.
MORE AT LINK
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Oh, I agree.
IIRC I was given Fentanyl for at least one of those procedures.
One would think that some combination the drugs they gave me would have put my lights out completely in the right dose...with no pain at all.
Put...the candle...back!
Don’t know....but a .380 to the head would work without a doubt
How do you suppose that would affect the executioner after several of those? Even the Nazis switched to gas for their executions at the request of both the SS and the Wehrmacht.
Did care homes use powerful sedatives to speed Covid deaths? Number of prescriptions for the drug midazolam doubled during height of the pandemic
We have thousands of pounds of fentanyl being brought into our country illegally every week. Why can’t they use that?>>> Or the mRNA vax?
Midazolam + Fentanyl is exactly what they prescribe for many patients on ventilators. No wonder so may die.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16540957/
Objective: To compare the efficacy of continuous intravenous sedation with midazolam alone vs. midazolam plus fentanyl (”co-sedation”) during mechanical ventilation.
Conclusions: In mechanically ventilated patients, co-sedation with midazolam and fentanyl by constant infusion provides more reliable sedation and is easier to titrate than midazolam alone, without significant difference in the rate of adverse events.
Apparently not even safe for executions...sigh.
Midazolam is compared to equally “suspicious” remdesivir to treat covid?
There are better covid treatments. Stay informed! for your sake, loved ones, and friends... in case one lands in hospital with covid.
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UK Department of Health Advised Doctors to Use Midazolam as A Treatment for Covid
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4031216/posts
morphine OD, fentanyl, pure nitrogen or CO2, public hangings, so many cheap ways to do executions but instead most States rely on expensive bunches of drugs that are hard to source...
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