I agree with this wholeheartedly, but it in no way excuses the state from botching up this execution so badly. There are some commentators in the US now saying that something like this was always going to happen and it should be a test case for having the method banned - at least while they try to resolve the issues connected with it.
Below is a link to a BBC investigation into how the drugs used in lethal injection are obtained. It makes interesting reading.
Basically drug companies don’t want their drugs and equipment associated with capital punishment so they put in place strict end user agreements and ban distributors from supplying prisons. Authorities are then forced to look elsewhere for the drugs and because unauthorised imports are mainly blocked and seized it’s becoming more and more difficult.
And this is where ‘compounding pharmacies’ come in. These are specialised pharmacies that combine, or alter raw drug ingredients to create custom medications - in other words a made to order laboratory. They’re used mainly by medics to create drugs tailored to individual patients to get around things like allergies or to make alternative versions of mass produced drugs when they’re out of stock. But as prisons are prevented more and more from accessing execution drugs, they are turning to these pharmacies to custom-make raw ‘compounded’ batches of execution drugs.
Compounded medications don’t undergo the same rigorous clinical review processes that mass-manufactured drugs do - they have a very short shelf life and vary in strength. So sub standard or old stock drugs can cause excruciating pain and failure to anaesthetise before cardiac arrest is induced. An added controversy is the fact that these drugs, when used for conventional medicine, require trained anaesthetists and carefully calibrated equipment to ensure proper administration. With lethal injection it’s prison staff with minimal training who are responsible for administering the drugs. The potential for causing horrific suffering is huge.
My own opinion is that if the state is going to apply the death penalty then they need to adhere to their own rules concerning ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ and ensure that the condemned person isn’t subjected to any more suffering than is absolutely necessary to get the job done. But l don’t think lethal injection is the clean and painless method people think it is - especially if safety protocols are bypassed in the process.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67150566