Physicians, Medical Ethics, and Execution by Lethal Injection

In the wake of the recent botched execution by lethal injection in Oklahoma, a group of eminent legal professionals known as the Death Penalty Committee of The Constitution Project has published a sweeping set of 39 recommendations that not only tinker with, but hope to fix, the multitude of problem...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association 2014-06, Vol.311 (23), p.2375-2376
Main Authors: Truog, Robert D, Cohen, I. Glenn, Rockoff, Mark A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Capital punishment
Capital Punishment - legislation & jurisprudence
Capital Punishment - methods
Ethics, Medical
Humans
Injections
Jurisdiction
Medical ethics
Physician's Role
Physicians
Physicians - ethics
State Government
Supreme Court Decisions
United States
Citations: Items that cite this one
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Summary:In the wake of the recent botched execution by lethal injection in Oklahoma, a group of eminent legal professionals known as the Death Penalty Committee of The Constitution Project has published a sweeping set of 39 recommendations that not only tinker with, but hope to fix, the multitude of problems that affect this method of capital punishment. Many of the recommendations this committee makes with regard to legal and administrative reforms appear worthwhile and reasonable. Here, Truog and Cohen comment that although medical professionals who participate in executions may be motivated by compassion, this defense of their participation is a myopic view that sees such clinicians as passive participants in a situation over which they have no ethical involvement or responsibility. Instead, they point out that the fundamental reason for regarding the involvement of medical professionals as unethical is grounded in the proper relationship between the state and the medical profession.
ISSN:0098-7484
1538-3598
DOI:10.1001/jama.2014.6425