Feb. 15
CALIFORNIA:
Doctor Deplores Bringing Anesthesiologist into Death Chamber
Today, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel ruled that prison officials must
either change the drugs they use in California's lethal injection
procedure or have an anesthesiologist present in the execution chamber to
monitor the inmate during the procedure. In response, Jonathan I. Groner
MD, clinical associate professor of surgery at The Ohio State University
College of Medicine and Public Health and national expert on lethal
injection issued the following statement:
The American Medical Association has developed ethical guidelines on
physician participation in capital punishment. These guidelines. which are
nationally recognized, state that:
A physician, as a member of a profession dedicated to preserving life when
there is hope of doing so, should not be a participant in a legally
authorized execution.
Physician participation in an execution includes, but is not limited to,
the following actions:
prescribing or administering tranquilizers and other psychotropic agents
and medications that are part of the execution procedure; monitoring vital
signs on site or remotely (including monitoring electrocardiograms);
attending or observing an execution as a physician; and rendering of
technical advice regarding execution. [emphasis added] Physician
participation in capital punishment violates a centuries-old trust between
the medical community and the community at large. Physicians are supposed
to be healers, not killers. That is why the AMA's code of ethics prohibits
physician involvement in executions. No patient in California should ever
have to receive treatment from a doctor who participates in executions.
The American Society of Anesthesia, and the California Society of
Anesthesiologists, and the California Medical Association should
unconditionally condemn participation in executions by anesthesiologists.
(source: Christian Newswire)
