Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death.

Today, every state that has the death penal­ty autho­rizes exe­cu­tion by lethal injec­tion. When this method is used, the con­demned per­son is usu­al­ly bound to a gur­ney and a mem­ber of the exe­cu­tion team posi­tions sev­er­al heart mon­i­tors on this skin.

Jan 15, 2025 · Lethal injection—now the most widely used method of execution in the United States—was first adopted by the U.S. state of Oklahoma in 1977, because it was considered cheaper and more humane than either electrocution or lethal gas (see gas chamber).

Nov 28, 2023 · Here’s what happens in one state during a typical three-drug lethal injection, the most common method of enacting the death penalty where it is legal in the US.

Mar 12, 2018 · But, exactly how does lethal injection work? First, the subject is prepped for the procedure, including disinfecting all tools and germane body parts. Then a lethal three-ingredient cocktail is administered, typically containing sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride.

Though lethal injection has been used for a majority of the executions carried out in the modern era, it is plagued by problematic executions and controversy. All states and the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment use lethal injec­tion as their pri­ma­ry method of exe­cu­tion.

Due to drug short­ages, states have adopt­ed new lethal-injec­tion meth­ods, including: ONE DRUG: Nine states and the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment have used a sin­gle-drug method for exe­cu­tions – a lethal dose of an anes­thet­ic (Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Missouri, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Washington). Six oth­er states ...