2 deadly lethal Implosions.
mattd
mattd at useoz.com
Mon Dec 31 01:28:08 PST 2001
The only sound during a lethal injection is said to be when the lungs(or
*towers*) collapse.The end is nigh.
Undercutting Executions Death penalty opponents are launching a new
campaign to make it more difficult -- and more costly -- for prison
officials to carry out lethal injection executions.
by Justine Sharrock December 28, 2001
Can public pressure on drug companies put an end to lethal injections?
As the chief executive of McAlester Regional Health Center in McAlester,
Okla., Joel Tate is in the business of saving lives. So he said it came as
a shock when Human Rights Watch suggested last June that his hospital was
indirectly helping to kill people.
For the past twenty years, the hospital had been the Oklahoma Department of
Corrections' sole supplier of potassium chloride, one of the drugs used
during lethal injection executions -- a procedure which Oklahoma carried
out more often than any other state in 2001.
Human Rights Watch, as part of a larger campaign to limit states' access to
lethal injection drugs, urged Tate to sever his hospital's drug supply
relationship with Oklahoma's prisons. The New York group's arguments swayed
Tate, who ordered an immediate end to the sale of potassium chloride to
corrections officials.
That single decision marked the first victory in what could become an
innovative new push by anti-death penalty activists. Rather than attempting
to convince state lawmakers to abandon capital punishment, the activists
are setting their sights on the pharmaceutical companies and drug
distributors on whom state and federal prisons rely. The hope, activists
say, is that the companies and institutions which provide lethal injection
drugs will be sufficiently influenced by negative publicity to drop the
practice.
Activists acknowledge that this new campaign won't put an end to capital
punishment. The goal, they say, is simply to make it more complicated --
and possibly more costly -- for states to carry out a death sentence.
"Drug companies are in the business of making drugs for health and
well-being, not to kill people," says Steve Hawkins, Executive Director of
the Washington, DC-based National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
"If a department of corrections wants to be in the business of killing
people, let it be expensive, and let it be difficult."
Lethal injection is used by the US government and military as well as 36 of
the 38 states which provide for the death penalty. A combination of three
drugs are used in the process: sodium thiopental, or Pentothal, an
anesthetic which puts the inmate to sleep; Pancuronium, which paralyzes the
muscles and stops breathing; and potassium chloride, which stops the heart.
Human Rights Watch has launched an effort targetting distributors of
potassium chloride. Allison Collins, a senior researcher with the group,
says the organization is preparing a letter-writing campaign directed at
two California companies -- Bergen Brunswig Corporation and Cardinal Health
-- which are the nation's major suppliers of the drug. Similarly, the
National Coalition Against the Death Penalty has launched a letter-writing
campaign directed at Illinois-based Abbott Laboratory, the sole suppliers
of Pentothal.
The new effort is not without precedent. In 1994, activists joined with the
American College of Physicians and Physicians for Human Rights to launch a
campaign aimed at discouraging doctors and other medical professionals from
taking part in lethal injection executions. Since lethal injection involves
the administering of drugs normally used for medical purposes, prison
officials often ask that heath care professionals be involved, with some
states even requiring their presence.
"It is hypocritical for health professionals to be involved in the death of
individuals, instead of promoting health and life," argues Abe Bonowitz,
director of Florida based Citizens United Against the Death Penalty, which
joined in the 1994 campaign.
While that effort has had mixed results, death penalty opponents are hoping
that applying similar pressure to drug companies will have a more
far-reaching effect. Given the initial reactions from copmany officials,
however, the campaign could be a long and difficult one.
Most of the companies targeted in the campaign insist they cannot be held
accountable for how corrections officials use the drugs, all of which have
other medical uses. Officials at Abbott, for instance, claim they have
already tried to keep their product from being used in executions.
"Abbott does not support the use of Penthothal in capital punishment," says
Abbott vice-president Catherine Babington. "In fact, (we) communicated with
departments of corrections in the United States to request that this
product not be used in capital punishment procedures." But the company
can't control how their products are used, she says, claiming that
corrections officials purchase sodium thiopental for use as a medical
anesthetic.
Officials at Baxter International, Inc., which produces Pancuronium, the
third drug in the lethal injection cocktail, likewise deny responsibility
for the use of their product in executions.
"Information on the proper uses of Pancuronium are clearly stated on the
label, in accordance to regulatory procedures," says Deborah Spak, a
spokesperson for Baxter International, Inc. "We cannot know every use of
the product that we sell. "
Activists acknowledge that theirs will be an uphill struggle. Still, they
see their efforts to influence drug manufacturers and distributors as a
significant part of a broad effort.
"This is not going to be the one key in ending the death penalty, says Jeff
Garis, executive director of Pennsylvania Abolitionists Against the Death
Penalty. "It is part of a larger overall strategy, that is going to take
multiple tactics and campaigns."
http://www.motherjones.com/web_exclusives/features/news/executions.html
APster is interested in targeted action against the guards that volunteer
for execution duties.Send me their details.
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