LAWYERS ACTING for a prisoner on death row in Ohio were scrambling to delay his scheduled execution this morning using a new method of lethal injection that is widely used to put down pets. The procedure has never been tried out on humans.
Barring last-minute appeals and stays of execution, Kenneth Biros (51) will be put to death using a massive overdose of an anaesthetic. It would be the first time for a single-drug lethal injection to be administered, in contrast to the triple-drug cocktail that has become the norm in the 37 American states that have death row prisoners.
Tim Sweeney, Biros’s lawyer, said: “This truly is experimentation and a more careful look needs to be taken by the courts before this new method can be used.”
Under the new so-called protocol, Biros would be administered an overdose of the anaesthetic thiopental sodium, one of the three drugs used in the lethal injection cocktail that is the most popular current technique.
If that failed, a back-up would be used involving the injection of two other chemicals. That back-up method, in particular, has never been tested.
Ohio opted for the new protocol in the wake of a gruesome incident in September in which an execution was botched.
Romell Broom, a rapist and murderer, spent two hours on the trolley as officials tried to find a vein that would hold an intravenous drip through which the poisons that would kill him could be introduced.
During that time, Broom tried to help his executioners find a vein, turning over on his side and rubbing his arm. A doctor was called in to help apply the drip – in contravention of ethical guidelines. After 18 attempts the execution was called off and Broom was returned to death row, where he remains. – ( Guardianservice)