Is the Lethal Injection painful?

[Cheese]

Do we care? Or better do those in the USA care?

Lethal Injection painful?

The combination of drugs and how they are used is at the center of a series of recent legal challenges by condemned inmates across the nation. They say the kind of lethal cocktail given in 850 of the 1,018 executions in the USA since 1977 can conceal the excruciating pain that those being executed can experience.

I guess the obvious question would be...did the inmates on death row consider the pain they inflicted on the person(s) they murdered or the families left behind before they commited the crime(s)?

Maybe we should just bring back the guillotine...thats over fast isnt it?

I know I know...wheres the humanity in all of this?

[Weiser Wonder]

I heard somewhere that heads can think for 30 secs or so after being removed from the body. That would be freaky.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by Weiser Wonder

I heard somewhere that heads can think for 30 secs or so after being removed from the body. That would be freaky.

Heard something to that extent, but 30 seconds? Not sure. All I heard was that if you had your head cut off, you could see it for a few seconds. What I don't understand with all these science type theories, is how the hell do they come up with them?

[JBR]

How can you see your own head without a mirror... Is it me?

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Cheese

Do we care? I guess the obvious question would be...did the inmates on death row consider the pain they inflicted on the person(s) they murdered or the families left behind before they commited the crime(s)?

That is really the only question I care about. I don't know where people on death row get off making complaints like this. You KILLED someone or some other such hideous crime to be given a death sentence. Maybe if they thought about that ahead of time, they wouldn't have to worry if justice is going to bite them back painfully.

[albertGQ]

Originally Posted by JBR

How can you see your own head without a mirror... Is it me?

I think he meant you can see your detached body with the eyes in your head

[ken0042]

My question is this; prior to the injection, does the doctor rub the area with alcohol before putting in the needle?

[BlackEleven]

Originally Posted by ken0042

My question is this; prior to the injection, does the doctor rub the area with alcohol before putting in the needle?

I guess what you're inferring is that there is not much point in sterilizing the needle, considering its contents are lethal anyway?

[Lanny_MacDonald]

Originally Posted by Weiser Wonder

I heard somewhere that heads can think for 30 secs or so after being removed from the body. That would be freaky.

The brain remains alive for minutes after the heart stops. Unless there is some type of trauma to render the brain unconsious I would think that it does continue to think and to smell and to see. The body becomes useless as there is no control center to oversee the operation of mechanism. Consider it as an automobile that gets into an accident and is totalled, yet the radio continues to play. The radio will keep functioning until the battery is drained. The brain will continue to function until the oxygen supply is exhausted.

As to lethal injection it is painless. The thiopental sodium first injected puts the person to sleep. They are no more aware of what is going on than someone who is having surgery that has been anesthetized. The next drug used is pancuronium bromide which is a heavy duty muscle relaxant. It prevents the muscles from responding in violent contortions as the brain dies. The final drug injected is potassium chloride which halts electrical activity in the muscles. This stops the heart and halts breathing. Respiration stops and the brain slowly dies as it depletes its oxygen supply. The person never feels a thing as the thiopental sodium has induced a deep coma which prevents the pain centers in the brain from functioning. Of course I can't confirm that this is 100% accurate as I have never gone through this process, but based on conversations with people who have gone through surgery, and exposure to the same drugs, you don't feel a thing until you wake up. Since the person receiving lethal injection never wakes up, they likely don't feel anything.

[NuclearFart]

This whole "law suit" is a huge waste of time. Basically it is arguing that because a doctor is not present for the sedation, they cannot ensure that the prisoner is fully sedated before administering the potassium. In light of the fact that the "patient" is not going to be revived, there is really no reason why you wouldnt just give a 10X standard dose of thiopental...There is your coma and you didnt need a doctor present for it either. All the litigation in the US is ######ed!
________
Cls-class

[Antithesis]

Originally Posted by Cheese

I guess the obvious question would be...did the inmates on death row consider the pain they inflicted on the person(s) they murdered or the families left behind before they commited the crime(s)?

Ding ding ding, we have a winner!

[RedMan12]

aww poor death row inmates. You think what they did to their victims was painful?

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Cheese

I guess the obvious question would be...did the inmates on death row consider the pain they inflicted on the person(s) they murdered or the families left behind before they commited the crime(s)?

I guess the obvious answer is "no". They are criminals after all. Does it really matter? Just because they acted like animals doesn't mean we are now justified in doing the same.

[arsenal]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

I guess the obvious answer is "no". They are criminals after all. Does it really matter? Just because they acted like animals doesn't mean we are now justified in doing the same.

If we were acting like animals, we would put the inmate to death in the same fashion that said inmate killed their victim(s).

They methods used in carrying out the death penatly sentance, are very humane.

But I don't want to get into a debate about if the death penatly is justified, as that is not what this thread is about.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

who cares if it's painful... moral of the story is, if you're going to commit murder in a state with the death penalty, don't get caught!

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by Lanny_MacDonald

The brain remains alive for minutes after the heart stops. Unless there is some type of trauma to render the brain unconsious I would think that it does continue to think and to smell and to see. The body becomes useless as there is no control center to oversee the operation of mechanism. Consider it as an automobile that gets into an accident and is totalled, yet the radio continues to play. The radio will keep functioning until the battery is drained. The brain will continue to function until the oxygen supply is exhausted.

As to lethal injection it is painless. The thiopental sodium first injected puts the person to sleep. They are no more aware of what is going on than someone who is having surgery that has been anesthetized. The next drug used is pancuronium bromide which is a heavy duty muscle relaxant. It prevents the muscles from responding in violent contortions as the brain dies. The final drug injected is potassium chloride which halts electrical activity in the muscles. This stops the heart and halts breathing. Respiration stops and the brain slowly dies as it depletes its oxygen supply. The person never feels a thing as the thiopental sodium has induced a deep coma which prevents the pain centers in the brain from functioning. Of course I can't confirm that this is 100% accurate as I have never gone through this process, but based on conversations with people who have gone through surgery, and exposure to the same drugs, you don't feel a thing until you wake up. Since the person receiving lethal injection never wakes up, they likely don't feel anything.

Wow... this was like an extremely well thought-out essay exam answer.

Nice work.

How do you know all this?

[firebug]

Originally Posted by fleury

Heard something to that extent, but 30 seconds? Not sure. All I heard was that if you had your head cut off, you could see it for a few seconds. What I don't understand with all these science type theories, is how the hell do they come up with them?

A French doctor actually tried to do some studies on this. He would attend executions by guillotine, immediately obtain the head and then document any observable reactions. I can't remember his name although I am sure it could be googled.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by firebug

I am sure it could be googled.

And googled it was:
Lifespan of a beheaded head

Not exactly the journal of modern medicine, so take it for what it's worth.

[Lanny_MacDonald]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

Wow... this was like an extremely well thought-out essay exam answer.

Nice work.

How do you know all this?

I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night.

[Cheese]

Originally Posted by Lanny_MacDonald

I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night.

LARF! I just spit coffee!