As Ohio pre­pares to change its exe­cu­tion process in October, the Toledo Blade called on the state to stop the secre­cy sur­round­ing the selec­tion of an alter­na­tive to cur­rent lethal injec­tion drugs. The edi­tors wrote, ​“No state should pro­ceed with sched­uled exe­cu­tions until the drug, or mul­tidrug cock­tail, it plans to use has been proven to be humane and effi­cient. The process of chang­ing how peo­ple are exe­cut­ed in Ohio should unfold with far more trans­paren­cy than the state Department of Rehabilitation and Correction has shown so far.” The edi­to­r­i­al cau­tioned against deci­sions based on con­ve­nience or the avail­abil­i­ty of a drug, with­out prop­er research: ​“Other states are turn­ing to untest­ed meth­ods such as propo­fol, with­out know­ing how much pain it caus­es or even what dose should be admin­is­tered. Expediency has trumped moral­i­ty, as the process has become more hap­haz­ard.” Read the editorial below.

Editorials: The process of chang­ing how peo­ple are exe­cut­ed in Ohio should unfold with far more transparency

The State of Ohio plans to change by October the way it exe­cutes pris­on­ers, large­ly because of a nation­wide short­age of lethal injection drugs.

Such injec­tions were cre­at­ed large­ly to give states that impose cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment a humane — or at least quick and rel­a­tive­ly pain­less — alter­na­tive to the elec­tric chair, gas cham­ber, or fir­ing squad. But short­ages now have states scram­bling to find drugs that are con­ve­nient or avail­able, even if they are not adequately tested.

The drug short­ages are large­ly cre­at­ed by the moral objec­tions of man­u­fac­tur­ers. But that doesn’t make them, or the prob­lems they entail, any less real.

No state should pro­ceed with sched­uled exe­cu­tions until the drug, or mul­tidrug cock­tail, it plans to use has been proven to be humane and effi­cient. The process of chang­ing how peo­ple are exe­cut­ed in Ohio should unfold with far more trans­paren­cy than the state Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) has shown so far.

Some man­u­fac­tur­ers are refus­ing on moral grounds to sup­ply cor­rec­tions depart­ments with drugs used for lethal injec­tions. That has forced states to buy cus­tom-made drugs from com­pound­ing, or spe­cial­ty, phar­ma­cies that are not reg­u­lat­ed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the New York Times report­ed this week.

Other states are turn­ing to untest­ed meth­ods such as propo­fol, with­out know­ing how much pain it caus­es or even what dose should be admin­is­tered. Expediency has trumped moral­i­ty, as the process has become more hap­haz­ard — and prob­a­bly more open to legal and constitutional challenges.

ODRC has not com­ment­ed on what method it might select. In March, 2011, Ohio became the first state to use pen­to­bar­bi­tal alone for a lethal injec­tion. Its sup­ply of the drug will run out late next month. Pentobarbital, which wasn’t cre­at­ed to kill peo­ple, is most com­mon­ly used to euth­a­nize ani­mals and treat seizures.

The drug’s mak­er, Denmark-based Lundbeck, oppos­es its use in death-penal­ty cas­es and has stopped sell­ing the prod­uct to cor­rec­tions depart­ments. Another wide­ly used drug, sodi­um thiopen­tal, has also been kept from cor­rec­tions depart­ments after European employ­ees object­ed to its use for executions.

Ohio start­ed using cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment — with pub­lic hang­ings — when it became a state in 1803. In 1897, the elec­tric chair replaced the gal­lows. In 2001, lethal injec­tion became the sole method of exe­cu­tion in Ohio.

In 2009, the state switched to a sin­gle dose of sodi­um thiopen­tal. In 2011, it switched again to pen­to­bar­bi­tal, a pow­er­ful seda­tive, when the mak­er of sodi­um thiopen­tal restrict­ed its distribution.

It seems unlike­ly that Ohio will change to a method of exe­cu­tion oth­er than lethal injec­tion, such as elec­tro­cu­tion or fir­ing squads. Nor should it. Lethal injec­tions still rep­re­sent the most effi­cient and humane way to con­duct an execution.

But drug short­ages nation­wide raise trou­bling ques­tions about how exe­cu­tions are to be car­ried out. Missouri is think­ing of return­ing to the gas cham­ber. Arkansas has stopped sched­ul­ing exe­cu­tions until its cor­rec­tions depart­ment comes up with a new method.

In Ohio, what­ev­er option the depart­ment selects would apply to the sched­uled November exe­cu­tion of Ronald Phillips. ODRC must ensure that the method it selects for future exe­cu­tions is humane, reli­able, effi­cient, and adequately tested.

(Editorial Board, ​“The process of chang­ing how peo­ple are exe­cut­ed in Ohio should unfold with far more trans­paren­cy,” Toledo Blade, August 23, 2013). See Lethal Injection. Read more Editorials.

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