For the sake of inmates who have been condemned to death, and for the sake of society, Tennessee should ban the use of Pavulon in lethal-injection executions.
The Tennessee Supreme Court is considering a case that challenges the use of the drug. Attorneys for Abu-Ali Abdur’Rahman want Tennessee to devise a different execution protocol that eliminates the use of Pavulon. Other challenges to the use of Pavulon are surfacing; about 28 states use Pavulon as part of their execution process.
Pavulon is the second of three drugs administered during a lethal-injection execution. The first drug is an anesthetic that puts the inmate to sleep. Then comes the Pavulon, which paralyzes the facial and skeletal muscles but not the brain or nerves. The third drug, potassium chloride, stops the heart.
That means that people who have been given Pavulon can still feel intense pain; they just can’t show it. An anesthesiologist who testified about the drug’s use called it a “chemical tomb,” saying that if the anesthetic wears off or is not sufficient, the prisoner will feel the excruciating pain caused by the potassium chloride. That fact alone indicates that the use of Pavulon could meet the definition of being “cruel and unusual” punishment, which is constitutionally prohibited.
Lethal injections have become the execution method of choice because the process seems more sterile than others. But Pavulon doesn’t make death easier, or faster, or more painless for the person on the receiving end. Pavulon just makes executions easier to watch for witnesses — and that’s where the real problem lies.
The whole purpose of having witnesses at executions is to make the event real to society. If those witnesses see a prisoner doze off, then quit breathing, they may believe the execution was painless. If they see a person who thrashes around violently, vomits or defecates, that may change their perception of capital punishment.
State law bans the use of Pavulon on animals. Human beings deserve the same consideration.
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/
pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050706/OPINION01/
507060368/1008/OPINION