The Arkansas Department of Corrections recent­ly announced it will use a new drug, phe­no­bar­bi­tal, for lethal injec­tions. Phenobarbital is used to treat seizures but has nev­er been used for exe­cu­tions in the U.S. Some experts are con­cerned that using drugs that are untest­ed for this pur­pose could result in inhu­mane treat­ment. David Lubarsky, who chairs the anes­the­si­ol­o­gy depart­ment at the University of Miami’s med­ical school, said, ​“People should not be using inmates as an exper­i­ment. And that is basi­cal­ly what this is. It’s basi­cal­ly exper­i­ment­ing.” Up until a few years ago, all states car­ry­ing out lethal injec­tions used sodi­um thiopen­tal as the first of three drugs in their pro­to­col. States were forced to seek alter­na­tive drugs when the man­u­fac­tur­er stopped mak­ing sodi­um thiopen­tal in response to objec­tions about its use in exe­cu­tions. Oklahoma was the first state to employ pen­to­bar­bi­tal, a seda­tive com­mon­ly used by vet­eri­nar­i­ans to euth­a­nize ani­mals, but that drug is now in short sup­ply for exe­cu­tions. Last year, Missouri announced plans to use propo­fol for lethal injec­tions, though the man­u­fac­tur­er of that drug has also restrict­ed its sale. Arkansas also plans to use the drug lorazepam pri­or to the exe­cu­tion as a seda­tive. However, Jon Groner, a surgery pro­fes­sor at the Ohio State University College of Medicine, said lorazepam makes some peo­ple excitable, instead of relaxed.

(J. Nuss, ​“Arkansas Turns to Different Lethal Injection Drug,” Associated Press, April 20, 2013). See Lethal Injection.

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