MEGHAN SHAPIRO, ESQ.
COUNSELOR AT LAW, MEMBER OF VIRGINIA BAR
903 SOUTH WASHINGTON STREET #123, ALEXANDRIA, VA 22314, 703.915.9594,
SHAPTRO.MEGHAN@GMAIL.COM
For Immediate Release: April 24, 2012 9:00 a.m.
Media Contact: Meghan Shapiro 703-915-9594 or shapiro.meghan@gmail.com
COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST VIRGINIA EXECUTIONERS FOR ILLEGAL
PRACTICES
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA -- Prescription drugs intended only for use by
licensed
anesthesiologists and medical doctors are being misused by Virginia
executioners--simple prison
guards--in violation of a litany of regulations and laws. As evidence of
the danger in the
administration of such drugs by unlicensed individuals, Virginia's
executioners are not even
checking that prisoners are properly anesthetized before injecting them
with lethal chemicals
which can cause excruciating pain and agony, according to new documents
filed by Virginia
attorneys Meghan Shapiro and Christopher Leibig.
These and other detailed allegations are set out in a Writ Quo Warranto
filed against the Virginia
Department of Corrections for engaging in the highly regulated
professions of medicine,
anesthesiology, and pharmacy without due license or authorization.
Corrections officers and
other employees also are accused of the unlicensed distribution and
administration of the
controlled substances that they have chosen to use for executions.
Meghan Shapiro, one of the attorneys who filed the suit, said: “There is
a very good reason that
these medical professions and dangerous drugs are so highly regulated,
and that is to prevent
high-risk, undignified behaviors such as these by the Department of
Corrections. They should
not be permitted to operate outside the law. They have no idea what
they're doing.” Documents
supporting the Writ detail how, when carrying out executions, Department
of Corrections
Employees:
do not check whether or not the prisoner is still conscious before
proceeding with drugs
that paralyze, suffocate, and stop the heart;
have administered recalled drugs;
(more)
have procured execution drugs from the University of Virginia Hospital
Pharmacy;
have chosen to use a drug, as a general anesthetic, that is not intended
for induction of
general anesthesia in a conscious person nor is used for this purpose by
U.S. hospitals;
have made “goofs” in paperwork documenting the handling and
administration of
controlled chemicals used in lethal injections.
The filing also describes how execution teams “have spent significant
amounts of time during
designated training sessions planning events such as barbeques, picnics,
and the collection of
money for activities such as the creation of hats reading 'One Team One
Mission,'” and have had
to enact rules during execution simulations such as “no horseplay.”
Stephen A. Northup, a Richmond attorney and the Executive Director of
Virginias for
Alternatives to the Death Penalty, stated: “This case raises serious and
important questions
concerning Virginia's execution protocol that have not previously been
raised or resolved. All
conscientious Virginia citizens should be concerned, if not shocked, by
the allegations set forth
in the Application for a Writ of Quo Warranto.”
Maya Foa, an investigator for legal action charity Reprieve, said: “This
is not only a shockingly
casual attitude towards executions on the part of Virginia. It also means
that the chance of
prisoners suffering excruciating pain as they are killed is significantly
increased. Virginia’s
Department of Corrections is attempting to carry out the complex business
of anesthesia despite
being unlicensed and unauthorized to do so. The potential outcome is
horrific human suffering.”
ENDS
1. For further information, please contact Meghan Shapiro, Esq., at 703-
915-9594 or
shapiro.meghan@gmail.com. For general information about capital
punishment in Virginia,
please contact Steve Northup, Esq., at 804-301-4920 or steve@vadp.org.
2. The full text of the writ is available on the website of the legal
action charity Reprieve
http://reprieve.org.uk/media/downloads/2012_04 24 PUB Virginia Quo Warran
to.pdf. The
risks and errors on the part of the Virginia DOC are detailed at
paragraph 24.
HHH
