Arizona agrees to drop use of contested sedative in executions

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

U.S. | Tue Dec 20, 2016 | 1:41pm EST

Arizona agrees to drop use of contested sedative in executions

By Jon Herskovitz

Arizona has reached an agreement with lawyers for death row inmates that would prohibit a sedative that has been used in executions by lethal injection that took longer than usual or were botched in several states.

According to the settlement filed late on Monday in a federal court in Phoenix, Arizona "will never use again" the sedative midazolam, or related products, as a part of a drug protocol for lethal injections.

Midazolam is a valium-like drug its critics contend does not achieve the level of unconsciousness required for surgery and is therefore unsuitable for executions.

States have faced legal challenges on their lethal injection mixes after a sales ban imposed by U.S. and European pharmaceutical makers on chemicals states had once used.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-arizona-executions-idUSKBN1492BJ

[REP]

1. I think the rate of paradoxical response to Versed is higher than reported

Versed is the trade name for midazolam. I myself have the paradoxical reaction to it; instead of sedating me and causing temporary amnesia, it wakes me up and makes me agitated (but not violent). I have endured many extremely painful medical procedures with it until an anesthesiologist finally noted my reaction during a kidney biopsy. The expected paradoxical reaction is more than no effect and agigitation; in the literature it's usually described as aggression and violence, and these are behaviors expected in prisoners convicted of crimes heinous enough to merit the death penalty so if there is any medical history of prior reaction to Versed, it may be dismissed, or if this is their first exposure to it, any atypical reaction is also likely to be dismissed. I am a non-criminal with no history of violence or drug abuse, and my extremely atypical response took years to be taken seriously enough to be noted and taken seriously.