Alabama could use nitrogen hypoxia for executions in death sentences. What is it?
The state approved the method in 2018, but it has not yet been used or tested. A man awaiting a Sep. 22 execution said he opted for nitrogen hypoxia instead of lethal injection due to a fear of needles, but corrections officers lost his paperwork.
Alabama is readying an untried method of execution to carry out its death sentences – nitrogen hypoxia.
The state approved the method in 2018, but it has not yet been used or tested.
The man awaiting a Sep. 22 execution, Alan Eugene Miller, was convicted of killing three men in a workplace shooting in 1999. He said he opted for nitrogen hypoxia instead of lethal injection due to a fear of needles, but corrections officers lost his paperwork.
While the Alabama attorney general’s office found no evidence of that, Miller could receive death by nitrogen hypoxia if a judge blocks the use of lethal injection.
What is nitrogen hypoxia?
Hypoxia is when there is not a sufficient amount of oxygen in the tissues for the body to perform its regular functions. It is different from hypoxemia, which occurs when there is low oxygen in the blood.
Nitrogen hypoxia is a form of inert gas asphyxiation. Nitrogen is safe to breathe – it makes up 78% of what we inhale – but only when mixed with suitable amounts of oxygen.
Inert gas asphyxiation uses gasses that are not typically poisonous, such as nitrogen, methane or helium, as a diluting agent for atmospheric gasses. This then reduces oxygen concentration to fatally low amounts, according to the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.
Once oxygen levels fall below 16%, breathing becomes difficult. At 4% to 6%, a person can enter a coma in as little as 40 seconds.
There are concerns about the method
Oklahoma and Mississippi are the two other states that have authorized the method. Russell Bucklew, a man incarcerated in Missouri tried to get approved for nitrogen hypoxia, but was denied in a lawsuit that went to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Bucklew was initially scheduled for execution in 2014, but sued the director of the Missouri Department of Corrections asking for the use of nitrogen hypoxia instead of lethal injection due to a medical condition he had.
In the opinion of the Court, Justice Neil Gorsuch denied the request, saying that nitrogen hypoxia had been untested and Missouri could not properly prepare it.
Bucklew’s proposal should have included how the nitrogen gas should be administered, in what amounts, how long it would take to work and how to keep the execution team safe, he said.
The Court also ruled there was no evidence to support Bucklew’s claim that hypoxia would be less painful. He was executed in 2019 by lethal injection.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.9(MDA2ODEyMDA3MDEyOTUxNTAzNTI4NWJlNw004))
Colombia’s lone Amazon port faces drying river and rising tensions with Peru
Colombia's only Amazon port town could soon be cut off from the river that keeps it alive. As drought and a shifting river spark a tense border dispute with Peru, locals are scrambling to adapt—and politicians are raising flags, literally.
Sunday Puzzle: Common denominator
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with Weekend Edition puzzlemaster Will Shortz along with listener Cynthia Rose of Littleton, Colorado.
South Korea says it has reached a deal with the US for the release of workers in a Georgia plant
More than 300 South Korean workers were detained in an immigration raid on Thursday. Presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said South Korea plans to send a charter plane to bring the workers home.
The silent killer increases your risk of stroke and dementia. Here’s how to control it
New recommendations for early treatment for hypertension to prevent strokes, heart attacks and dementia come as an experimental medication is shown to lower blood pressure in hard to treat patients.
Are you a grandparent-to-be? Here’s some advice from those who came before you
Sept. 7 is National Grandparents Day. NPR readers shared the joys of becoming grandparents and offered some sage advice.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to resign
Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has expressed his intention on Sunday to step down following growing calls from his party to take responsibility for a historic defeat in July's parliamentary election.
