Last Tuesday Kenneth Biros became the first person in the country to be put to death via a single-drug intravenous injection instead of the standard three-chemical blend. Experts predicted that this would drag out the death, but Ohio officials hope the switch will end a 5-year-old lawsuit against the state claiming that the three-combo IV anesthetic causes unnecessary suffering.

Lethal injection: Photo by Jessica Stacey (CC)

Biros, whose appeal for a last stay of execution was denied, died 10 minutes after Southern Ohio Correctional Facility officers administered a dose of sodium thiopental, which suppresses breathing. The other two drugs used are pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride, which respectively causes muscle paralysis and cardiac arrest. Sure, the single-drug technique amounts to an overdose, but 10 minutes is pretty average even for the three-drug combo.

With 35 out of 36 death penalty states relying on the three-drug method for lethal injections, all eyes are on Ohio. Critics argue that the three-drug method is unconstitutional, and after a 2008 Kentucky case, the Supreme Court ruled that states would have to change if a less painful alternative surfaced.

Ohio adopted the change after a botched attempt to execute Romell Broom in September. Governor Ted Strickland called off all capital punishment in Ohio after “allegedly skilled professionals” spent two hours trying to find a vein, missing as many as 18 times. Broom is alive and challenging the state’s attempt to try again. A hearing began in federal court on December 9. If vein access is the reason concerns over “unnecessary pain” were raised in the first place, then how exactly does a one-dose injection resolve those issues?

Then again, if a single-dose anesthetic doesn’t do the trick, there’s always Plan B: a two-drug injection into muscle in the case of failed vein access. Biros, convicted of killing Tami Engstrom in 1991 and scattering her body parts across two states, obviously didn’t require the backup. But one success doesn’t represent a sure-fire solution, and it may be too early for supporters to rest on their laurels. Opponents believe that on some, the dosage can wear off in medias res, causing the prisoner to regain consciousness and feel pain, which could amount to cruel and unusual punishment.

Does this single incident have the potential to change the landscape of capital punishment, or was Biros’ execution a dangerous “human experiment” that doesn’t predict how the drug will react on another human body? Besides, death by an overdose of an anesthetic? Haven’t we heard that one before?

Posted by Rebecca on December 16, 2009 at 3:40 pm.