"Group to censure physicians who play role in lethal injections," is the title of a
A national physicians organization has quietly decided to revoke the certification of any member who participates in executing a prisoner by lethal injection.
The mandate from the American Board of Anesthesiologists reflects its leaders' belief that "we are healers, not executioners," board secretary Mark A. Rockoff said. Although the American Medical Association has long opposed doctor involvement, the anesthesiologists' group is the first to say it will harshly penalize a health-care worker for abetting lethal injections. The loss of certification would prevent an anesthesiologist from working in most hospitals.
About half of the 35 states performing executions, including Virginia and North Carolina, require a doctor to be present. Other states have also recruited doctors, including anesthesiologists, to play a role in executions involving lethal injections. In some jurisdictions, anesthesiologists consult prison officials on dosages. In others, they insert catheters and infuse the three-drug cocktails.
While death penalty opponents welcome the move because it raises yet more questions about lethal injections,
capital punishment supporters contend that doctors are not needed during the procedures, which can be administered by prison employees. But as questions mount about the types and combinations of drugs used and whether they cause undue suffering, states have been turning to doctors for advice and assistance. With 3,200 prisoners now on death rows across the country, most of the 50 executions performed each year since 2008 have used lethal injections."If I were lying there on the gurney and someone was administering a paralyzing drug . . .I would want someone there who knew what they were doing," said Ty Alper, associate director of the Death Penalty Clinic at the University of California at Berkeley's School of Law. "Just like if I was getting surgery -- I wouldn't want a prison guard administering the anesthesia."
Under the policy, which the group's 40,000 members learned about in February, any of these activities could lead to a loss of certification. Anesthesiologists can get state medical licenses without certification, but most hospitals require it.
Thus far, no doctors have been disciplined, Rockoff said, but several anesthesiologists, including some who have worked as execution consultants or testified in
capital punishment litigation, said the step has had a chilling effect."They are clearly drawing a line in the sand and saying, 'If you cross this, we'll come after you,' " said Bryan A. Liang, a law professor at California Western School of Law and a professor of anesthesiology at the University of California at San Diego.
"It sure will deter me. For the ABA to threaten to pull your board certification is a big deal," said one anesthesiologist who has consulted for prison officials in his state about drug dosages. Arguing that the decision should be left up to individual doctors' consciences, none of those who criticized the policy agreed to be named, saying they feared repercussions.
UPI files, "Group to censure doctors for executions."
The 40,000-member organization is the first medical group to say it will invoke such a stiff penalty for members' involvement in an execution by lethal injection. The American Medical Association is on record opposing physician involvement.
Losing certification would prevent an anesthesiologist from working in most hospitals. About half of the 35 death penalty states require a doctor to be present at executions.
"Anesthesiologist Group To-Decertify Physicians Who Help With Lethal Injections," is the headline in today's Kaiser Health News.
The American Board of Anesthesiologists "has quietly decided to revoke the certification of any member who participates in executing a prisoner by lethal injection," according to The Washington Post. The decision "reflects its leaders' belief that 'we are healers, not executioners,' board secretary Mark A. Rockoff said. Although the American Medical Association has long opposed doctor involvement, the anesthesiologists' group is the first to say it will harshly penalize a health-care worker for abetting lethal injections. The loss of certification would prevent an anesthesiologist from working in most hospitals. About half of the 35 states performing executions, including Virginia and North Carolina, require a doctor to be present."
Related coverage is in the physician index.
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