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Tennessee inmate still alive after being administered two lethal injections

47 points · 139 comments · techolic

  1. joegibbs · · focus · HN ↗
    I am very against medicalised punishments like this. It’s bad for medicine as a whole to be associated with it. I also think it prolongs the suffering of the person and often has things like this happen, and is mainly for the benefit of the audience not wanting to see icky blood.

    What is wrong with firing squads? They have been used longer than lethal injections. If they didn’t succeed the first time they can fire again. There’s no danger of the drugs not working or not being able to find a vein.

    Also I don’t think it’s right for a prisoner to be on death row for most of their lives. 4-5 years is good enough, but after that it’s cruel.

    1. dyauspitr · · focus · HN ↗
      If I had to die I want the injection because if it works right you just doze off and die. That compared to being tied to a pole and have people fire guns at you seems terrible. There is a significant chance of serious pain and suffering.
      1. ndsipa_pomu · · focus · HN ↗
        I think you have that the wrong way round. The injection is far more likely to cause intense pain and suffering due to the lack of medical professionals being involved (it's not a medical procedure). The drugs are often obtained from "dodgy" sources and so the dosage can't be determined due to the variability of the drugs. The lack of medical professionals will often mean that the injections are poorly administered (e.g. missing a vein).

        I was just reading a Reddit post from a veterinarian and the protocol for euthanising animals is far better than that used for lethal injections - notably pre-meds are used to sedate the patient and prevent breathing issues and panic.

        A bullet or two to the head is far more effective and reliable. The only downside to lethal shooting is that it looks too barbaric to observers.

      2. drcongo · · focus · HN ↗
        Doze off and die is not what happens.
      3. ashleyn · · focus · HN ↗
        "If it works right" is doing quite the heavy lifting here. The adminsitering guards are not medical professionals, nor are the people designing the protocols.
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