Physicians and Execution

On January 14, 2008, the Journal hosted a roundtable discussion of the issues raised by Baze v. Rees, a Supreme Court case about whether the three-drug protocol used in lethal injection causes unnecessary pain and suffering and violates the Constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Moderator Atul Gawande, surgeon and associate professor at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health, was joined by Deborah Denno, professor of law at Fordham University; Robert Truog, professor of medical ethics, anesthesiology, and pediatrics at Harvard Medical School; and David Waisel, associate professor of anesthesia at Harvard Medical School, in a conversation about lethal injection, the current protocol, possible alternatives, and the role of health care professionals in putting convicted criminals to death.

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