Post by Anja Nieser on Oct 1, 2006 5:55:00 GMT -5
Sedation May Fail in California Executions, Doctor
Testifies----Anesthesiologist testifies that state has flawed lethal
injection procedures, poorly trained employees.
Some condemned inmates executed by lethal injection may have been
conscious when they received a drug that causes suffocation and
"excruciating" sensations comparable to drowning or strangulation, an
anesthesiologist who has reviewed state execution logs testified
Wednesday.
Dr. Mark Heath, a professor of anesthesiology at Columbia University
Medical School, said the logs showed that inmates were still breathing
several minutes after prison personnel administered pancuronium bromide, a
paralytic and the 2nd of 3 drugs used in lethal injections in California
and three dozen other states.
The inmates are supposed to be heavily sedated by the 1st drug against the
pain of the 3rd, a heart-stopping chemical whose effects are masked by the
paralytic.
"If someone is breathing like that, they may not be in a deep plane of
anesthesia. They may not even be unconscious," Heath said on the 2nd day
of a hearing on death row inmate Michael Morales' challenge to
California's lethal injection procedures.
Morales' attorneys contend that the executions violate the U.S.
Constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. As Heath,
who has testified as an expert challenging lethal injection procedures in
several states, spoke, attorney Ginger Anders displayed a copy of a prison
log of the March 2001 execution in California of murderer Robert Lee
Massie.
The log showed that Massie continued to breathe for 4 minutes after the
paralytic, pancuronium bromide, was administered.
Heath emphasized that 2 doctors who observed the execution "said they saw
breathing; they were right there."
Still, under cross-examination by senior Assistant Atty. Gen. Dane
Gillette, Heath acknowledged that he did not have sufficient information
to say whether any particular inmate was conscious when the paralytic was
applied or during the painful cardiac shutdown.
"We don't know whether they were or weren't," Heath said.
In more than a full day of testimony, Heath presented a withering
portrayal of the California lethal injection system at work, based on his
review of prison records, depositions of execution team members and other
material obtained by Morales' attorneys.
Among other things, he said members of the execution team were ignorant of
the properties of the drugs they administered, and in some instances
failed to give the required dose of the sedative sodium thiopental.
Responding to a question about how much she knew about the anesthetic, a
registered nurse with primary responsibility for mixing the drugs said, "I
don't study. I just do the job. I don't want to know about it," according
to a deposition read into the court record by Anders.
Heath said he was disturbed by the response: "This is problematic. She is
being negligent.. You can't understand and appreciate the dangers if you
don't know how the drug works." The same nurse said she was not familiar
with the lethal drug protocol, which Heath said he found "almost hard to
believe."
He also said it was "appalling" that another member of the team, involved
with administering the lethal dose, did not know the names of the 2nd and
3rd drugs, according to deposition testimony read in court Wednesday.
Heath testified that he also was troubled by reports of a discussion
between the governor's representatives and the attorney general's office
about changing lethal injection procedures. The meeting was called after
U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel announced that he would hold a detailed
hearing on Morales' constitutional challenge.
According to notes of the meeting taken by Corrections attorney Bruce
Slevin, Dr. Robert Singler, who works for the department, suggested that
the state use a different, longer-lasting and more effective anesthetic.
But lawyers spurned Singler's idea, saying they thought the state should
not change course because the 3-drug protocol had been upheld by courts.
Instead, they suggested that the procedure be "tweaked," Heath testified.
"Fewer changes will be better," said Andrea L. Hoch, the governor's
lawyer, according to Slevin's notes, which were displayed on a courtroom
screen.
Heath also expressed dismay that the room in which prison personnel
monitored the execution was dimly lighted to preserve the confidentiality
of members of the execution team.
Heath observed the room, under execution conditions, on a tour arranged by
Fogel earlier this year. "All I can say is that it was much darker than I
ever would allow myself to be placed" when working in a hospital setting,
Heath said.
The 46-year-old anesthesiologist cited testimony of a physician who was
present at an execution as an observer. The doctor said "he had to use a
flashlight to see what he was writing," Heath stated.
Heath said there is no way to guarantee that an inmate is adequately
anesthetized unless an experienced doctor is at his side monitoring
consciousness during the execution. The California protocol does not call
for a doctor to participate, and the execution team is in a room adjacent
to the execution chamber, pumping in the drugs through intravenous lines.
Heath said he thought it possible to recruit a suitable monitor, even
though the American Medical Assn. and the American Society of
Anesthesiologists have urged their members not to participate in
executions. Medical professionals' oaths - "First, do no harm " - condemn
participating in killings.
On cross-examination, Heath said he would not want to participate in an
execution. When Gillette asked if Heath would help the state devise a
"humane" lethal injection protocol, the doctor, who opposes the death
penalty, said it would violate his personal ethics.
Gillette attempted to demonstrate in various ways that no change in the
state's procedures would satisfy Heath. For example, he noted that Heath's
declarations in the Morales case and an earlier one brought by death row
inmate Kevin Cooper had stated that a continuous infusion of sodium
thiopental would provide an additional measure of safety. Now, Gillette
suggested, Heath was criticizing the state's plan to adopt the continuous
infusion protocol.
Heath countered that he "could not have imagined that when California made
that change in the protocol that it also would dramatically lower" the
initial dose of the sedative.
Currently in California, "no one on the [execution] team" at San Quentin
has the training or experience to monitor or assess whether the anesthetic
is really working, Heath said.
"This is not the fault of these people. They are doing the best they can
in a very dysfunctional system," he testified.
Morales is on death row for the 1981 murder of Terri Winchell, a Lodi high
school student.
Testifies----Anesthesiologist testifies that state has flawed lethal
injection procedures, poorly trained employees.
Some condemned inmates executed by lethal injection may have been
conscious when they received a drug that causes suffocation and
"excruciating" sensations comparable to drowning or strangulation, an
anesthesiologist who has reviewed state execution logs testified
Wednesday.
Dr. Mark Heath, a professor of anesthesiology at Columbia University
Medical School, said the logs showed that inmates were still breathing
several minutes after prison personnel administered pancuronium bromide, a
paralytic and the 2nd of 3 drugs used in lethal injections in California
and three dozen other states.
The inmates are supposed to be heavily sedated by the 1st drug against the
pain of the 3rd, a heart-stopping chemical whose effects are masked by the
paralytic.
"If someone is breathing like that, they may not be in a deep plane of
anesthesia. They may not even be unconscious," Heath said on the 2nd day
of a hearing on death row inmate Michael Morales' challenge to
California's lethal injection procedures.
Morales' attorneys contend that the executions violate the U.S.
Constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. As Heath,
who has testified as an expert challenging lethal injection procedures in
several states, spoke, attorney Ginger Anders displayed a copy of a prison
log of the March 2001 execution in California of murderer Robert Lee
Massie.
The log showed that Massie continued to breathe for 4 minutes after the
paralytic, pancuronium bromide, was administered.
Heath emphasized that 2 doctors who observed the execution "said they saw
breathing; they were right there."
Still, under cross-examination by senior Assistant Atty. Gen. Dane
Gillette, Heath acknowledged that he did not have sufficient information
to say whether any particular inmate was conscious when the paralytic was
applied or during the painful cardiac shutdown.
"We don't know whether they were or weren't," Heath said.
In more than a full day of testimony, Heath presented a withering
portrayal of the California lethal injection system at work, based on his
review of prison records, depositions of execution team members and other
material obtained by Morales' attorneys.
Among other things, he said members of the execution team were ignorant of
the properties of the drugs they administered, and in some instances
failed to give the required dose of the sedative sodium thiopental.
Responding to a question about how much she knew about the anesthetic, a
registered nurse with primary responsibility for mixing the drugs said, "I
don't study. I just do the job. I don't want to know about it," according
to a deposition read into the court record by Anders.
Heath said he was disturbed by the response: "This is problematic. She is
being negligent.. You can't understand and appreciate the dangers if you
don't know how the drug works." The same nurse said she was not familiar
with the lethal drug protocol, which Heath said he found "almost hard to
believe."
He also said it was "appalling" that another member of the team, involved
with administering the lethal dose, did not know the names of the 2nd and
3rd drugs, according to deposition testimony read in court Wednesday.
Heath testified that he also was troubled by reports of a discussion
between the governor's representatives and the attorney general's office
about changing lethal injection procedures. The meeting was called after
U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel announced that he would hold a detailed
hearing on Morales' constitutional challenge.
According to notes of the meeting taken by Corrections attorney Bruce
Slevin, Dr. Robert Singler, who works for the department, suggested that
the state use a different, longer-lasting and more effective anesthetic.
But lawyers spurned Singler's idea, saying they thought the state should
not change course because the 3-drug protocol had been upheld by courts.
Instead, they suggested that the procedure be "tweaked," Heath testified.
"Fewer changes will be better," said Andrea L. Hoch, the governor's
lawyer, according to Slevin's notes, which were displayed on a courtroom
screen.
Heath also expressed dismay that the room in which prison personnel
monitored the execution was dimly lighted to preserve the confidentiality
of members of the execution team.
Heath observed the room, under execution conditions, on a tour arranged by
Fogel earlier this year. "All I can say is that it was much darker than I
ever would allow myself to be placed" when working in a hospital setting,
Heath said.
The 46-year-old anesthesiologist cited testimony of a physician who was
present at an execution as an observer. The doctor said "he had to use a
flashlight to see what he was writing," Heath stated.
Heath said there is no way to guarantee that an inmate is adequately
anesthetized unless an experienced doctor is at his side monitoring
consciousness during the execution. The California protocol does not call
for a doctor to participate, and the execution team is in a room adjacent
to the execution chamber, pumping in the drugs through intravenous lines.
Heath said he thought it possible to recruit a suitable monitor, even
though the American Medical Assn. and the American Society of
Anesthesiologists have urged their members not to participate in
executions. Medical professionals' oaths - "First, do no harm " - condemn
participating in killings.
On cross-examination, Heath said he would not want to participate in an
execution. When Gillette asked if Heath would help the state devise a
"humane" lethal injection protocol, the doctor, who opposes the death
penalty, said it would violate his personal ethics.
Gillette attempted to demonstrate in various ways that no change in the
state's procedures would satisfy Heath. For example, he noted that Heath's
declarations in the Morales case and an earlier one brought by death row
inmate Kevin Cooper had stated that a continuous infusion of sodium
thiopental would provide an additional measure of safety. Now, Gillette
suggested, Heath was criticizing the state's plan to adopt the continuous
infusion protocol.
Heath countered that he "could not have imagined that when California made
that change in the protocol that it also would dramatically lower" the
initial dose of the sedative.
Currently in California, "no one on the [execution] team" at San Quentin
has the training or experience to monitor or assess whether the anesthetic
is really working, Heath said.
"This is not the fault of these people. They are doing the best they can
in a very dysfunctional system," he testified.
Morales is on death row for the 1981 murder of Terri Winchell, a Lodi high
school student.