Lethal Injection

Atul Gawande also discusses lethal injection and the doctor's ethical obligation in his book. He says, "there is little doubt that lethal injection can be painless and peaceful, but as courts have recognized, ensuring that it is requires significant medical assistance and judgment." However, many people (including the AMA) think the ethical obligation of a doctor bars him or her from participating in a lethal injection. This is a very charged topic, and not one I am well-versed in. The AMA Code of Medical Ethics only permits physicians to provide a sedative to calm anxiety and to sign a death certificate after someone else has pronounced death. A physician cannot even pronounce death, because if the prisoner is found alive, the physician would not be able to resuscitate him.

Gawande interviews several health professionals that participate in administering lethal injections. Often, the physician is only asked to monitor the patient; he does not deliver the drugs. But when difficulties happen, the physician may be called upon to insert IVs, take more responsibility, nearly play executioner. On the other hand, some health care professionals argue that if a lethal injection has to happen, then it should be done by doctors. That is, they may approach the situation thinking that if they do not participate, then the lethal injection may have complications, and by omission, they contribute to greater suffering. This is an interesting stance, and I think it has some merit. Indeed, a death-penalty patient "is no different from a patient dying from cancer - except his cancer is a court order [...if] a patient dies, are you not going to comfort him?" The inmate is going to die. Are doctors shirking their responsibility of solace at that moment of death by not participating in the execution? This is a tough topic, but one that deserves thought and discussion.