Ohio criticized over execution using untested drug
Dennis McGuire, on right, was allegedly tested by the state of Ohio during his execution using unverified drugs. / Courtesy of cbc.ca
By Ko Dong-hwan
The state of Ohio is under fire over allegedly using a prisoner on death row as a clinical study subject for untested drugs, sources said Monday.
On Thursday, the Ohio department of corrections executed Dennis McGuire, 53, by injecting in sequence sedative midazolam and painkiller hydromorphone. It was the first time the narcotic combination was put into actual practice in the U.S. penal system.
According to the witnesses at the death chamber ― the prisoner’s daughter, son and daughter-in-law ― McGuire’s stomach repeatedly heaved and fists clenched as he suffocated till his last breath.
The execution procedure began at 10:27 a.m. and, by 10:52 a.m., the criminal’s lungs and heart made no further sounds, the sources said.
Before midazolam and hydromorphone, the States has carried out legal drug executions by sequentially injecting sedative pentobarbital, muscle relaxant and anesthetic, and, to permanently disable heart, potassium chloride.
But since the European Union rolled out restrictive measures on purveying the chemicals to the United States, Ohio State has been seeking out an alternative.
The sources added that the family of the executed is looking to file a lawsuit against the state for “inflicting cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the U.S. constitution.”