Anesthesiologists Prohibited from Taking Part in Executions in the United States

Trapped by the Hippocratic Oath. To perform anesthesia “in order to cause a patient’s death is a violation of their fundamental duty as physicians to do no harm,” said Mark Rockoff, Secretary of the American Board of Anesthesiologists (ABA), in a public statement on May 2nd.

In a majority of U.S. hospitals, the ABA is the agency that provides anesthesiologists with certifications of medical competency required to practice medicine.

However, the ABA has decided to no longer deliver this valuable certificate to doctors who participate in executions. Anesthesiologists who are already certified may see their certification removed. It doesn’t matter that executions are legal; the line drawn by the ABA is an ethical one. Will it be efficient? In an interview with the Washington Post, one anesthesiologist who has previously consulted for prison officials in his state about drug dosages said, “It sure will deter me. For the ABA to threaten to pull your board certification is a big deal.”

The American Medical Association – a U.S. equivalent to the French Board of Medical Doctors, to which the ABA is linked, was in fact opposed to the participation of medical doctors in executions, but had never really considered true administrative sanctions.

The measure went rather unnoticed and took effect on February 15th. Since that date, there have been nine executions, but for the time being no anesthesiologists have undergone sanctions. The identity of the executioners being kept secret, it is difficult to know whether any anesthesiologists have taken part in an execution.

51 lethal injections in 2009

Today, half of the 35 U.S. states in which prisoners can be executed have made the presence of a doctor compulsory. Among 52 prisoners executed in the United States in 2009, 51 were killed by lethal injection — a fact that puts anesthesiologists in the front line. “When execution gets botched, it’s usually because of two major problems: because of difficulty inserting the catheters to inject the drugs or because something goes awry with the poisons — either the prisoner is not unconscious and there’s pain involved or the drugs cannot be administered,” explained an anesthesiologist from the Children’s Hospital in Boston. That’s the reason the states prefer to call upon injection professionals.

In the end anesthesiologists are caught in this dilemma: the obligation to comply with the rules of the most recognized certification in their country, or the temptation to make death as painless as possible. The last point is highlighted by David B. Waisel, professor at Harvard Medical School, in an article published in the Washington Post: “If we maintain the death penalty, it must be done with humanity and with the least amount of suffering for the condemned.”*

*Editor’s Note: The original quote, accurately translated, has not been verified.