Lethal Injection Research Articles

Challenges to the Contemporary Death Penalty in the United States

This review focuses on empirical research about contemporary challenges to the death penalty in the United States. Challenges are factors that obstruct capital punishment, including legal or political restrictions; elimination at the federal or state level; or the hindrance of the process at its operational stages of charging, adjudicating, appeals, clemency, or executions. By the best-known measures, the death penalty has been in decline in the United States since the turn of the century. Lethal injection errors—“botches”—are arguably the most important current challenge to the institution. Wrongful capital conviction has made capital punishment less tolerable to the general public. Mitigation remains an important challenge to the death penalty. This review emphasizes botches, innocence, and mitigation but also touches on disparate impact, failure-to-deliver a social benefit, and cost. Along the way, this review proposes a framework for considering challenges as they occur on two continua of impact, a micro/meso/macro axis and a narrow/wide axis.

Impact of adding high-concentration neutron poisons to reactor moderator system for guaranteed shutdown

To ensure a reliable shutdown of the proposed advanced heavy water reactor (AHWR) of Indian origin during emergency conditions, it is imperative to use an increased concentration of liquid neutron poison for injection into the moderator system due to its higher reactivity. The sudden injection of this liquid poison may cause a surge in radiolytic product (H2O2 and H2) yield, posing safety risks. If H2/D2 yield exceeds 4 % (v/v), a combustible mixture with oxygen can be formed and presence of oxidizing H2O2 can enhance corrosion. Hence, accurate estimation of H2O2 and H2 is imperative from the reactor safety point of view. We investigated gadolinium and boron (two liquid neutron poisons) at varying concentrations through high energy electron beam and gamma radiolysis. The radiolytic yields from both the liquid neutron poisons of equivalent concentrations at a constant dose and operating moderator conditions in electron beam and gamma radiolysis were compared. The molecular product yield was observed to be concentration and dose-rate-dependent for both the neutron poisons. Electron radiolysis exhibited a higher yield of H2O2, whereas gamma radiolysis resulted in a greater H2 yield. In electron radiolysis, the H2O2 yield decreased with increasing B concentration. These results give an overall estimation of radiolytic products for a particular dose rate, total dose and effect of head space volume over liquid irradiation zone from these two liquid poisons of a particular concentration. These insights will aid in selecting suitable poisons and managing their effects effectively to avoid hydrogen deflagrations after emergency shutdown.

Analysis of Islamic Law in the Context of Lethal Injection for Terminated Patients in Indonesia

This study delves into the examination of Islamic law within the framework of lethal injection for terminally ill patients in Indonesia. The research focuses on the ethical and legal dimensions surrounding the use of lethal injection as a method of administering end-of-life care for individuals facing terminal illnesses. Employing a comprehensive analysis of Islamic legal literature and scrutiny of Indonesia's legal provisions pertaining to the termination of patients, the study seeks to ascertain the compatibility of lethal injection with Islamic principles. The research adopts a comparative legal analysis approach, comparing the tenets of Islamic law with Indonesia's existing legal framework concerning end-of-life decisions. By exploring the perspectives of prominent Islamic scholars and jurists, the study aims to provide insights into the multifaceted nature of the debate surrounding lethal injection within the context of Islamic law. The findings of this analysis will contribute to the ongoing discourse on ethical considerations and religious perspectives regarding end-of-life care, with implications for Indonesia's healthcare policies and legal regulations in the realm of terminal patient care.

The Death Penalty Must Be Abolished: Whether using nitrogen gas, lethal injection or any other means, the death penalty is state-sanctioned human experimentation.

The Death Penalty Must Be Abolished: Whether using nitrogen gas, lethal injection or any other means, the death penalty is state-sanctioned human experimentation.

Safe and Effective for Human Executions? <i>Glossip v. Gross</i> and the Eighth Amendment Bar Against Off-Label Drug Lethal Injection

Safe and Effective for Human Executions? <i>Glossip v. Gross</i> and the Eighth Amendment Bar Against Off-Label Drug Lethal Injection

Living will: Todays thoughts and actions.

The word "Euthanasia" relates to two different words from the Greek language "Eu which indicates good and Thanatosis which indicates death", suggesting a "satisfactory Death" or "easy and painless Death" The phrase "mercy killing" has become associated with this meaning. It comprises inflicting painless death on a person suffering from an incurable and dreadful illness. It's the practice of terminating a person's life by administering a lethal injection or ceasing medical treatment. Informed and shared decision-making between the patient and the health professional caring for him or her is crucial for the quality of care and its outcomes. Living wills are nothing more than a tangible representation of this truth. As a result of their legal approval, patients' autonomy has been recognized. However, there are some differences in the regulations that have been adopted, and the health practice linked with these documents raises a number of practical and ethical questions that should be considered. PUBMED and COCHRANE databases were searched, with no language constraints, up to July 2021. Trial registration studies, hand searching, and bibliographic references of pertinent literature were also checked. Individual authors were responsible for data collection and analysis. The studies were evaluated independently by three review authors. A thorough assessment of the current accessible literature on living will be conducted, just to focus on the knowledge of euthanasia in detail. Most importantly, the social impact of the concept of euthanasia needs to be understood by the society. Moreover, it must be considered that euthanasia is different from suicide. Few communities may show the interference of their religion with euthanasia. So it is essential to enlighten the idea of euthanasia in legal ways for different countries.

Fasciola hepatica GST mu-class suppresses the cytokine storm induced by E. coli-lipopolysaccharide, whereas it modulates the dynamic of peritoneal macrophages in a mouse model and suppresses the classical activation of macrophages.

Sepsis is the consequence of a systemic bacterial infection that exacerbates the immune cell's activation via bacterial products, resulting in the augmented release of inflammatory mediators. A critical factor in the pathogenesis of sepsis is the primary component of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria known as lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which is sensed by TLR4. For this reason, scientists have aimed to develop antagonists able to block TLR4 and, thereby the cytokine storm. We report here that a mixture of mu-class isoforms from the F. hepatica GST protein family administered intraperitoneally 1 h prior to a lethal LPS injection can modulate the dynamics and abundance of large peritoneal macrophages in the peritoneal cavity of septic mice while significantly suppressing the LPS-induced cytokine storm in a mouse model of septic shock. These results suggest that native F. hepatica glutathione S-transferase is a promising candidate for drug development against endotoxemia and other inflammatory diseases.

The Death Penalty and the Power of ‘Judicial Override’ in Alabama State Law

Abstract On 17 November 2022 in Alabama, the death penalty by poison injection was scheduled to be executed on Kenneth Smith. His case is a disturbing example of the use of judicial power (known as ‘judicial override’) in the state law of Alabama that allowed the judge, at the time of the verdict in 1996, to overturn the jury’s decision recommending the choice of life imprisonment without parole instead of the death penalty, and thus give a final death sentence. The article presented here first provides a general analysis of the provisions of the federal constitution, relevant case law and federal legislation on the death penalty, and then presents an overview of state solutions to the death penalty. The key parts of the text deal with the institution of ‘judicial override’: its genesis and practice in the state of Alabama, and the application of the relevant legislation to the Kenneth Smith case. It argues that mechanisms such as ‘judicial override’ and their consequences strengthen the narrative of those arguing against the death penalty in the social and political debate.

Konflik Norma Penolakan Euthanasia di Indonesia

Problems in the Human Rights Law which only regulate the right to life and not the right to die. If interpreted broadly, the logic is that if the right to live exists, then the right to die must also exist. If the state legalizes forced deprivation of life by law, then the government should also regulate the legalization of death by its own will in the law. This study aims to examine how the basic considerations of judges in rejecting the Application for Injection of Death or Euthanasia in the Decision of the Banda Aceh District Court are viewed from the perspective of human rights and how the rejection of the Application for Injection of Death or Euthanasia in the Decision of the Banda Aceh District Court is viewed from the perspective of the values of justice . The method used in this study is normative juridical with the following results; The rejection of the application for lethal injection or euthanasia in the Berlin Silalahi case for researchers is a form of injustice and violates the purpose of making the law itself. Whereas euthanasia can be considered as a way to uphold the 'Right to live' by respecting the 'Right to die' with dignity. Furthermore, the application of the practice of euthanasia in Indonesia is actually possible to implement and can bring human rights supremacy in Indonesia closer. The supremacy of human rights here is interpreted to cover human rights as a whole which previously had not been included in positive law so that they could be contained in positive law in Indonesia.

Management of Laying Hen Farms in France Infected by Salmonella spp.: Comparison of Three Strategies

The presence of Salmonella spp. on laying hen farms turns out to be a major problem for public health reasons, mainly related to foodborne illnesses that may arise due to ingestion of contaminated eggs. When Salmonella spp. infection on farms is confirmed by laboratory analysis, animal health measures are applied on the establishment, including total elimination of animals. The aim of this study is to describe three different methods of managing Salmonella enteritidis-infected laying hen farms, all of which were used within the Moselle department (France). The methods chosen, culling, use of a mobile CO2 container, or lethal injection with T-61, depend on specific starting conditions, including the number of birds and proximity to an authorized slaughterhouse. This study, therefore, helps to identify the main problems with each method and provides recommendations for improving the management of Salmonella spp.-infected laying hen farms, where antibiotics cannot be used.

Forced Organ Harvesting

Forced Organ Harvesting

End-of-life practices: An ethical framework for clinicians

Most hospitalized patients die following a decision to forgo life-sustaining treatment and/or focus on comfort care. Since “Do not kill” is a general ethical norm, many healthcare professionals (HCPs) are uncertain or troubled by such decisions.We propose an ethical framework to help clinicians to understand better their own ethical perspectives about four end-of-life practices: lethal injections, the withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies, the withholding of life-sustaining therapies, and the injection of sedatives and/or analgesics for comfort care. This framework identifies three broad ethical perspectives that may permit HCPs to examine their own attitudes and intentions.According to moral perspective A (absolutist), it is never morally permissible to be causally involved in the occurrence of death. According to moral perspective B (agential), it may be morally permissible to be causally involved in the occurrence of death, if HCPs do not have the intention to terminate the patient’s life and if, among other conditions, they ensure respect for the person. Three of the four end-of-life practices, but not lethal injection, may be morally permitted. According to moral perspective C (consequentialist), all four end-of-life practices may be morally permissible if, among other conditions, respect for persons is ensured, even if one intends to hasten the dying process. This structured ethical framework may help to mitigate moral distress among HCPs by helping them to understand better their own fundamental ethical perspectives, as well as those of their patients and colleagues.

Euthanasia: Are we ready for it, or is it too late?

Euthanasia, also known as assisted suicide, is the act of intentionally ending the life of a person suffering from a terminal illness or incurable condition. The word "euthanasia" comes from the Greek words "eu," meaning "good," and "thanatos," meaning "death."1 Passive euthanasia entails the withholding treatment necessary for the continuance of life. Active euthanasia entails the use of lethal substances or forces (such as administering a lethal injection), and is more controversial. Euthanasia is a highly sensitive issue under scrutiny from medical, ethical, religious, cultural and socio-economic viewpoints.

Self-destruction or surrender? Religiosity and active versus passive euthanasia

Previous research suggests that people, especially religious people, are more opposed to active euthanasia, such as a lethal injection, than to passive euthanasia, such as withdrawing life support. The current research proposes a possible explanation for this finding—that active euthanasia is viewed as interfering with the natural course of life and death, but passive euthanasia is viewed as allowing it to take place. Two studies yielded results consistent with this hypothesis and found that how people think about the natural course of life and death substantially explained the greater opposition to active euthanasia among more religious people.

The Fate of Lethal Injection: Decomposition of the Paradigm and Its Consequences

Abstract This article examines the use of lethal injection from 2010–2020. That period marks the “decomposition” of the standard three-drug protocol and the proliferating use of new drugs or drug combinations in American executions. That development is associated with an increase in the number and type of mishaps encountered during lethal injections. This article describes and analyzes those mishaps and the ways death penalty jurisdictions responded, and adapted, to them. It suggests that the recent history of lethal injection echoes the longer history of the death penalty. When states encountered problems with their previous methods of execution, they first attempted to address these problems by tinkering with their existing methods. When tinkering failed, they adopted allegedly more humane execution methods. When they ran into difficulty with the new methods, state actors scrambled to hide the death penalty from public view. New drugs and drug combinations may have allowed the machinery of death to keep running. New procedures may have given the lethal injection process a veneer of legitimacy. But none of these recent changes has resolved its fate or repaired its vexing problems.

Rational Framework for the Design of Trp- and Arg-Rich Peptide Antibiotics Against Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria.

The threat of antibiotic resistance warrants the discovery of agents with novel antimicrobial mechanisms. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) directly disrupting bacterial membranes may overcome resistance to traditional antibiotics. AMP development for clinical use has been mostly limited to topical application to date. We developed a rational framework for systematically addressing this challenge using libraries composed of 86 novel Trp- and Arg-rich engineered peptides tested against clinical strains of the most common multidrug-resistant bacteria known as ESKAPE pathogens. Structure-function correlations revealed minimum lengths (as low as 16 residues) and Trp positioning for maximum antibacterial potency with mean minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 2–4 μM and corresponding negligible toxicity to mammalian cells. Twelve peptides were selected based on broad-spectrum activity against both gram-negative and -positive bacteria and <25% toxicity to mammalian cells at maximum test concentrations. Most of the selected PAX remained active against the colistin-resistant clinical strains. Of the selected peptides, the shortest (the 16-residue E35) was further investigated for antibacterial mechanism and proof-of-concept in vivo efficacy. E35 killed an extensively-resistant isolate of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA239 from the CDC, also resistant to colistin) by irreversibly disrupting the cell membranes as shown by propidium iodide incorporation, using flow cytometry and live cell imaging. As proof of concept, in vivo toxicity studies showed that mice tolerated a systemic dose of up to 30 mg/kg peptide and were protected with a single 5 mg/kg intravenous (IV) dose against an otherwise lethal intraperitoneal injection of PA239. Efficacy was also demonstrated in an immune-compromised Klebsiella pneumoniae infection model using a daily dose of 4mg/kg E35 systemically for 2 days. This framework defines the determinants of efficacy of helical AMPs composed of only cationic and hydrophobic amino acids and provides a path for a potential departure from the restriction to topical use of AMPs toward systemic application.

Juror Decision Making and Euthanasia: Exploring the Role of Jury Nullification, Manner of Death, and Defendant-Decedent Relationship.

In cases of euthanasia, determinations of guilt may be influenced by legal and extra-legal factors. This study explores the role that nullification instructions play in juror decision making. A defendant may be viewed as less culpable if the act was done out of mercy and jury nullification may occur as a result. We anticipated that these determinations may be influenced by the manner of death and the relational distance between the defendant and the decedent. It is unknown how euthanasia is viewed when it is performed by a physician compared to a family member or friend. To answer these questions, participants acted as mock jurors in a euthanasia case. The descriptions of the case varied by the presence of nullification instructions, the manner of death, and the defendant's relationship to the decedent. The results revealed significant effects of method of euthanasia and the type of defendant on juror verdicts. Jurors were most likely to acquit in a case that provided nullification instructions and involved a spouse using lethal injection for euthanasia. This finding suggests that different circumstances of a euthanasia case will affect jurors' propensity to focus on personal sympathies and interpretations. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

Suicide among Health Care Professionals-An Indian Perspective.

Suicide is a global phenomenon that claims a person’s life every 40 s. The suicide-mortality rate in India is higher than the worldwide average for health care professionals (HCP). The treatment gap for mental health care is alarming, more than 80% in India which has improved compared to a decade. Among the methods chosen by HCPs for dying by suicide, violent suicide methods are more common. Hanging is the most common means, followed by lethal injection and jumping from a building. Among the medical students and professionals in India, academic stress is the leading cause of suicides, followed by mental illness and harassment. Stressfully long working hours, starvation for long hours, inadequate diet, sleep deprivation, inadequate rest, high levels of personal expectations, knowledge of lethal suicide methods, easy access to potentially fatal drugs, apathy, and fearlessness towards death are some of the contributing factors. Primary preventive measures to minimize suicides in HCPs would be to conduct stress-management workshops at an institutional level, routine mental health check-ups in healthcare institutions, mental-health screening for students enrolling into healthcare courses, and prompt referrals to mental healthcare facilities. In addition, telehealth services or mental health services for medical professionals of India are the need of the hour.

Health-Care Professionals and Lethal Injection: An Ethical Inquiry.

The practice of health-care professional involvement in capital punishment has come under scrutiny since the implementation of lethal injection as a method of execution, raising questions of the goals of medicine and the ethics of medicalized procedures. The American Medical Association and other professional associations have issued statements prohibiting physician involvement in capital punishment because medicine is dedicated to preserving life. I address the three primary arguments against health-care professionals being involved in lethal injection (healing, trust, and nonmaleficence) and argue that they are not strong enough to prohibit physician involvement in the lethal injection process.

Getting Real About Killing and Allowing to Die: A Critical Discussion of the Literature

The moral significance of the distinction between killing and allowing to die has played a key role in debates about euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. Since the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment is held as morally permissible in the medical community, it follows that if there is no morally significant difference between killing and allowing to die, then there is no morally significant difference between withdrawing life-sustaining treatment or administering a lethal injection to end a patient’s life. Consistency then requires that voluntary active euthanasia (VAE) is also morally permissible. The debates over whether the distinction is morally significant have carried on for decades with little hope of consensus. We begin by surveying the literature to identify common argumentative strategies used in defending or rejecting the distinction’s significance. We observe, based on our review, that many of these strategies operate in ways that are conceptually removed from the concrete clinical situation of physicians involved in practices that lead to patient death (by withdrawal of treatment or VAE). We conclude by arguing for a novel way of moving the debate forward indicated by our reading of the literature, namely, by paying careful attention to the moral experience of physicians involved in end-of-life interventions to understand how they experience these practices. Exploring physician experience can reveal how the distinction may or may not be useful for moral deliberation and can provide the needed context to theorize about the distinction in a more empirically informed and practically useful way.