Missouri, Texas find 'better drug' for executions
Published 5:58 pm, Monday, August 4, 2014
St. Louis --
Despite a shortage of lethal-injection drugs, two of the nation's most active death penalty states have quietly carried on with executions by turning to pentobarbital, a powerful sedative that generally puts inmates to death swiftly and without complications.
Missouri and Texas have avoided the prolonged executions seen in other states where authorities are struggling to find a reliable chemical combination.
Lethal injection is in the spotlight after executions went awry in Ohio, Oklahoma and Arizona, which all use midazolam, a drug that is more commonly given to help patients relax before surgery. In executions, it is part of a two- or three-drug lethal injection.
Texas and Missouri instead administer a single large dose of pentobarbital, which is often used to treat convulsions and seizures and to euthanize animals.
Since 2011, more than five dozen executions have been performed solely with pentobarbital, according to records kept by Washington's Death Penalty Information Center, an advocacy group that opposes the death penalty. In most cases, inmates showed no obvious signs of suffering. Not all, though.
In 2012, South Dakota used pentobarbital to execute Eric Robert, who was convicted of killing a prison guard. As the drug was administered, Robert appeared to clear his throat and gasped heavily, then snorted for about 30 seconds. His eyes remained opened and his skin initially turned pale, then purplish.
Missouri changed to pentobarbital late last year and has since performed eight executions during which inmates showed no obvious signs of distress. Texas has used pentobarbital in 33 executions without complication since 2012.