Death Penalty Drugs For COVID-19 Patients

Some US health people are requesting for stocks of some states that has death penalty to help them help their patients or their COVID-19 patients on ventilators.

“Doctors treating severe cases of COVID-19 have started making an unusual plea: they’re asking states with the death penalty for access to their stores of lethal injection medications.” (Futurism)

The death penalty drugs they requested according to health people could help their COVID-19 patients on ventilators be comfortable and immobilized or be still to ease what they are going through.

The death penalty drugs they were requesting are: (1) the sedative midazolam, (2) the paralytic vecuronium bromide, and (3) the opioid fentanyl.

“…..the doctors are asking for the sedative midazolam, the paralytic vecuronium bromide, and the opioid fentanyl – which states stockfile for executions, but which they say could be used to help coronavirus patients.” (Futurism)

“Drugs being requested include the sedative midazolam, the paralytic vecuronium bromide and the opioid fentanyl. They’re needed because putting a patient on a ventilators “with no drugs….would be torture.”” (AP News)

The drugs being used for death penalty convicts to execute them is also the drugs being used by health people for patients in ventilators, as the news said.

“Many medications used to sedate and immobilize people put on ventilators and to treat their pain are the same drugs that states use to put inmates to death. Demand for such drugs surged 73% in March.” (AP News)

But the letter could not yield its much-needed reply or result because of the secrecy of execution process and states have problems with pharmaceutical companies.

“States may be hesitant to turn over their drugs because they have problems securing them as many pharmaceutical companies oppose their use in executions….” (AP News)

Some states didn’t reply; some said they don’t have the drugs; one said they have no plan to give; and one said they don’t receive a request.

While some states contacted by The Associated Press, including Alabama and Florida, didn’t respond to inquiries about the letter, others, including Arkansas, Texas and Utah, limited their comment to mainly saying they don’t have the medications in question. Tennessee wouldn’t confirm whether it has the drugs and indicated it has no plans to give any medications to a hospital. Oklahoma said it hadn’t received any requests for such medications from state hospitals.(AP News)

 Only one state, Wyoming, responded directly to the letter, and it indicated it doesn’t have the drugs in question. (AP News)

MIDAZOLAM Drug * iamage from AP News website)