COLUMBUS, Ohio – An anesthesiologist working for the family of an Ohio inmate put to death during a prolonged execution says the prisoner experienced pain and suffering before he lost consciousness.
California doctor Kent Diveley (DYV'-lee) says neither of the drugs used to execute Dennis McGuire can be relied on to produce a rapid loss of consciousness and death.
Diveley said in a report released Tuesday by attorneys for McGuire's family that the execution was not humane from a medical perspective.
A federal civil rights lawsuit filed by McGuire's adult children alleges McGuire "suffered needless pain and suffering" during the Jan. 16 execution. McGuire snorted and gasped several times during the record 26 minutes it took him to die.
The state prisons agency concluded in April there was no evidence McGuire experienced pain.
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