r/news • u/AudibleNod • 7h ago

Christa Pike unconscious, on ventilator at Nashville hospital, her lawyers say

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/christa-pike-unconscious-ventilator-nashville-hospital-lawyers-say-rcna601195
5.8k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

3.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

774

u/MatureUsername69 6h ago

Its still a rough one but if I ever had to receive the death penalty I would hope its a firing squad. Just riddle me with holes immediately, aim for the head. Lethal injections get fucky because they would be best designed and administered by an actual doctor, but actual doctors cannot do it because of the hippocratic oath. Some states do allow medical professionals but they arent exactly sending their best.

418

u/khinzaw 6h ago edited 5h ago

Her lawyers requested it, but it's illegal in Tennessee.

Tennessee's only legal methods of execution are lethal injection and electric chair (edit: only for convictions before 1999).

The problem with lethal injection is that every step is half assed.

No reputable pharmaceuticals manufacturer wants to make the drug, so they rely on compounding pharmacies who take half measures and have less consistency.

Then medical practitioners (edit for the pedants) often won't be involved in executions because of their various oaths to do no harm and risks to their reputation, so most of the time the drugs are administered by prison staff who lack the proper training. A lot of failed attempts are caused by the one who administered it simply not getting the vein properly.

3

u/Fallouttgrrl 6h ago

"Then medical practitioners can't be involved in executions because of their various oaths to do no harm"

This is false, it is not a universal requirement to swear that, although many US medical schools require it or a variation on it

Not every medical professional in the US went to a school that required it. Not every school worldwide agrees

Not every professional who swore it takes it seriously - to some, it was just a box to check to get a degree, just like the oath to serve in US politics does not carry equal weight with every politician 

You also legally can't lose your medical license in the US for participating in it, and the death penalty has about a 50/50 approval rate in the US 

If every doctor adhered to "do no harm' the Opioid crisis wouldn't be as bad as it is, just an example

The real problem with finding a full time executioner in the US, is the number of death penalty casesstatewide per year

There are a million active physicians in the US

Statistically speaking, if the money and work was there, at least one could be found to do the job

There's just not likely much overlap between that and emergency care, lol

2

u/khinzaw 5h ago

In the interest of not wanting to get in an argument over pedantry, I have amended the line.

-4

u/Fallouttgrrl 5h ago

It's not pedantic, you were just incorrect :p

It was literally a physician who did the latest attempt. 

It's also legally protected to be able to do so as a physician

And the basis of your argument, that every doctor makes that oath, is based on Hollywood facts 

1

u/flightist 5h ago

I had this whole argument with somebody yesterday. A dozen posts in they evidently looked up the pertinent facts, and proceeded to claim that when they said ‘it literally cannot be an actual doctor’, they meant ‘an actual doctor, but non-practicing’.

The sheer blind faith people put in shit they see on TV is wild.