Bioedge
Xavier Symons
Another botched execution in the USA has reignited debate over the death penalty. Arizona man Joseph Rudolph Wood took almost two hours to die after being injected with the drugs midazolam and hydromorphone. The two drugs are a new barbiturate combination being trialled in a number of US states.
According to witnesses, Wood gasped for air hundreds of times before succumbed to the drugs. “It was very disturbing to watch…like a fish on shore gulping for air”, said reporter Troy Hayden. “I counted 660 times that he gasped,” said Arizona Republic journalist Michael Kiefer.
Just two months ago BioEdge reported on a similar botched execution in Oklahoma.
Shortly after the execution, Arizona governor Jan Brewer issued a statement in which she ordered a full review of the execution process.
She was nevertheless adamant that the execution had been lawful and did not involve undue pain: “One thing is certain, however, inmate Wood died in a lawful manner and by eyewitness and medical accounts he did not suffer” her statement said.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona issued a statement calling for a moratorium on executions. “What happened today to Mr. Wood was an experiment that the state did its best to hide,” Executive Director Alessandra Soler said.
The new drugs being used are intended to replace others that pharmaceutical companies now refuse to sell to US correctional facilities. The drug midazolam causes unconsciousness in a patient, while hydromorphone shuts down breathing and induces cardiac arrest.
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