MISSOURI, USA. ANESTHESIOLOGISTS UNWILLING TO ASSIST IN EXECUTIONS

July 13, 2006: The state will comply with a federal judge's order to revamp its execution procedures by Saturday's deadline but may not be able to conduct any, the head of Missouri's Department of Corrections said today.
"We always intended to comply with the deadline," Director Larry Crawford said in telephone interview. "We can put together a plan, but if it's a plan we couldn't carry out ... we wouldn't be able to meet our statutory duty to carry out executions.
Crawford said his department has sent letters to hundreds of board-certified anesthesiologists in Missouri and southern Illinois asking if they would be willing to oversee lethal injections, as required by U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan Jr. ordered in his ruling last month. So far, no one has responded, he said. Missouri's Corrections Department was ordered to make sweeping changes to its execution protocol by this Saturday. Ruling in the case of death row inmate Michael Taylor, Gaitan halted executions until he was satisfied that Missouri's procedures posed no risk of unnecessary pain and suffering. In his ruling, Gaitan expressed grave concerns that a surgeon, a self-described dyslexic identified only as "John Doe 1," had much discretion and worked under no written protocol in mixing the lethal drugs and overseeing the executions, despite his lack of training in anesthesiology.
Under the judge's ruling, the anesthesiologist would play a central role in carrying out Missouri executions. The specialist would mix the drugs; administer them or observe those who do; and determine and monitor the inmate's level of consciousness, either by being in the execution room or with the help of monitoring equipment. The anesthesiologist also would serve as a consultant in drafting the state's protocol, contingency plan and auditing process. But the medical profession is decidedly uncomfortable with such a role. Doctors risk violating medical ethics if they assist. And the president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists wrote to his colleagues that doctors shouldn't help put inmates to death by lethal injection or work with the legal system to ensure inmates don't feel pain when they are executed.
"The legal system has painted itself into this corner and it is not our obligation to get it out," Dr. Orin F. Guidry, president of the 40,000-member group, wrote in a messaged posted on the organization's Web site on June 30. Patients could lose trust in their doctors if they see them as executioners, he wrote. (Sources: Associated Press, 13/07/2006)