Report: Missouri corrections officials misled the public about contents of lethal injection mix

[unhappycamper]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/09/03/report-missouri-corrections-officials-misled-the-public-about-contents-of-lethal-injection-mix/



Report: Missouri corrections officials misled the public about contents of lethal injection mix
By Reuters
Wednesday, September 3, 2014 18:00 EDT
By Carey Gillam

(Reuters) – Missouri officials have not been truthful about the drugs and methods used in recent executions, misleading lawyers for death row inmates and the public, according to a St. Louis Public Radio investigation broadcast on Wednesday.

The report, based on court records and other documents, showed that while Missouri officials have said publicly and in court records that they only use one drug, pentobarbital, to put prisoners to death, the state has also been using a controversial sedative called midazolam in every execution since November 2013.

In all nine executions since then, Missouri’s execution team has injected inmates set to die with significant amounts of the sedative before using the pentobarbital, it said. The report was broadcast and published online.

The use of midazolam is under scrutiny nationwide after inmates in botched executions in Ohio, Oklahoma and Arizona were given the drug and took longer than is typical to die, showing signs of distress.