When multiple pharmaceutical companies objected to Tennessee using their drugs to kill death row inmates several years back, the scramble to find lethal injection chemicals needed to carry out state-sanctioned executions grew frantic.
FILE - The execution chamber of the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution prison in Nashville, Tenn., is seen on Oct. 13, 1999. According to an independent review released Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022, Tennessee has not complied with its own lethal injection protocol ever since it was revised in 2018, resulting in multiple executions being conducted without proper testing. NASHVILLE, Tenn. —
The result: The state put a single employee with no medical background in charge of procuring the drugs, and the state's own flawed lethal injection rules and communication lapses meant one of the required tests for the drugs wasn't conducted during any of seven executions since 2018 — two by lethal injection, five by electric chair. Under Tennessee's rules, the drugs need to be tested regardless of the method selected.
The governor later called for the third-party investigation and report, which was released Wednesday.That independent review also found no evidence the state provided the pharmacy in charge of testing the drugs with a copy of its lethal injection protocol. Nor was there any evidence the state ever told the pharmacy it had to test for endotoxins on all injection chemicals until the night before Smith’s planned execution, the report said.
These discussions occurred while Tennessee was still relying on pentobarbital as the lone execution drug. When it became nearly impossible to obtain around 2017, the state pivoted to a three-drug process using midazolam — a short-acting sedative used in a clinical setting to help patients feel sleepy and relaxed before surgery.
The question about pain remains a key point of contention in the ongoing national debate about whether lethal injection violates constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment. But after the state's drug procurer promised to inform correction leaders of this warning, the department still chose to press ahead with a three-drug protocol using midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride.
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