Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?

Question

Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?

Answer 1

Are you going to start the IV with an unsterilized needle?  I mean really, come on.  THis doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure that one out.

But beyond that...   If the person lives through it, or the execution is stopped after the IV but before the meds...   One very large lawsuit.

Answer 2

Good question. Guess the autopsy afterwards has to show all the right things by the law?  

Answer 3

Come on, how penny pinching can someone get? we could all save a few pennies on the new needles that are used, and just use some stanky old one for the guy whos about to die.

so are you going to be the one to pull it out of the dead guy? and then put it into someone new, with the risk of pricking your self with some lethal chemicals or someone else's blood?

That would sure help the TAX shortages. those pennies would make world hunger a thing of the past! lol

Answer 4

That's for the protection of the technician responsible for inserting the needle in case he or she accidentally sticks himself/herself.  Given that few people about to be killed are going to take it without a struggle, such a precaution is entirely reasonable!

Answer 5

you, my man, are freaking awesome!! best question i've heard in a long time

Answer 6

So that they know for sure that the poison or whatevr leathat thing it is is going in, won't be prevented by anything,

Answer 7

it's more for the thought of general public- it seems more humaine.

I guess unsterile needles could affect how it works.

x

Answer 8

Good question.  They should just use old needles instead so we don't waste the good ones on them.

Answer 9

You’re right – maybe they should use a dirty needle. But this may be a type of torture and is probably not allowed.

Answer 10

How many times can this question be recycled?

It's because the needles and catheters are regular medical supplies, which come pre-sterilized. You'd have to go through a lot of extra trouble to find non-sterile ones, and they'd have to have separate, special storage. The sterile ones are available by the case in the prison infirmary.

Answer 11

Because it's only right to use the best when you kill someone.

But it's the same reason kamikaze pilots wore helments.

Answer 12

im not really sure, it doesnt make a diff sure?

Answer 13

good 1. but idk

Answer 14

its because the state Governor can still change his mind. and if he does and the inmate gets an infection because of nothing being sterilised then he can sue the state.

Answer 15

I don't know but I do know that the Geneva Convention states that a bayonet blade must be free from rust and other contaminants so that when you stab your enemy several times whilst clearing his position you don't cause him any unnecessary discomfort.

Answer 16

Good question.  

Answer 17

First of all, you can't find "unsterilsed" needles.

Secondly, if they reuse the needle again, there is a chance that the blood product might be accidentally injected into people working there.

Thirdly, where are they going to keep the used needles? It's just not hygenic.

Fourthy, those needles probably cost 0.01 cents each.

I don't think that it has got to do with humane reasons that everybody seems to be suggesting here. It is certainly not inhumane to be injecting someone with a source of infection from a used needle which will not affect the patient whatsoever.

Answer 18

I think it's partly so that society can pretend the execution is a "medical procedure."  Look at all the medical trappings: IV, swabbing the inmate's arm with rubbing alcohol, heart monitor, paramedics or nurses to insert the needles, etc.  (Doctors are blocked by the AMA's and state boards' codes of ethics from having any role other than simple witness.)  We can make ourselves feel better because it looks like the condemned is just "going to sleep."

Some of the other points are also reasonable: an unsterilized needle would create a risk for the personnel conducting the execution.

I oppose capital punishment in most cases, mainly because the process of justice is riddled with flaws.  However, I don't think an execution should be medicalized for ANY reason.  It lessens society's trust in the medical profession, and allows us to be self-righteous about being so "humane" to our criminals.

(Edited to add: I'd like to correct everyone who says it would be hard to find unsterilized needles.  It's actually quite simple.  Open a sterile packet, take the needle, and put it down on the table.  Boom!  It's no longer sterile.)

Answer 19

God forbid that for some reason the lethal injection did not 'take' and buddy got some disease from a dirty needle..that's one reason. But the main one is in dispensing 'humane' killing as capital punishment is supposed  to be..it is necessary that all the standard medical operating procedure be followed; it's just S.O.P. (standard operating procedure) and makes it somehow less of an atrocity in the minds of those who makes these laws. Go figure!

Answer 20

Needles are cheap.  They are sterilized during manufacturing.  To sell unsterilized needles, a company would need to produce them.  Now don't get me wrong, I like a good execution as much as the next man, but unless we're gonna start executing a lot more people, no company will possibly sell unsterilized needles.