Determination of Death in Execution by Lethal Injection in China

Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics : CQ : the International Journal of Healthcare Ethics Committees
Norbert W PaulHuige Li

Abstract

Since 1997, execution in China has been increasingly performed by lethal injection. The current criteria for determination of death for execution by lethal injection (cessation of heartbeat, cessation of respiration, and dilated pupils) neither conform to current medical science nor to any standard of medical ethics. In practice, death is pronounced in China within tens of seconds after starting the lethal injection. At this stage, however, neither the common criteria for cardiopulmonary death (irreversible cessation of heartbeat and breathing) nor that of brain death (irreversible cessation of brain functions) have been met. To declare a still-living person dead is incompatible with human dignity, regardless of the processes following death pronouncement. This ethical concern is further aggravated if organs are procured from the prisoners. Analysis of postmortem blood thiopental level data from the United States indicates that thiopental, as used, may not provide sufficient surgical anesthesia. The dose of thiopental used in China is kept secret. It cannot be excluded that some of the organ explantation surgeries on prisoners subjected to lethal injection are performed under insufficient anesthesia in China. In such cases, the...Continue Reading

References

Oct 22, 2008·Lancet·Jiefu HuangJ Michael Millis
Aug 3, 2011·The American Journal of Bioethics : AJOB·Simone Lucia Vernez, David Magnus
Sep 29, 2011·The American Journal of Bioethics : AJOB·Arthur Caplan
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Oct 28, 2016·American Journal of Transplantation : Official Journal of the American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons·T TreyJ Lavee
Feb 10, 2017·BMC Medical Ethics·Norbert W PaulHuige Li

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