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By Polly Mosendz
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Corrections officers in the state of Georgia decided on Tuesday afternoon to temporarily stop executions, according to the Associated Press. The decision will affect planned executions.
Officials issued the order after issues arose in the planned execution of Kelly Renee Gissendaner on Monday evening. The pentobarbital injection which was set to be used on Gissendaner was "cloudy" and as a result, her lethal injection was postponed "out of abundance of caution," a corrections official told the AP.
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According to a pharmacist who reviewed the injection, "this particular batch [of drugs] just didn't come out like it was supposed to." Pentobarbital is used to put down animals and execution advocates have said it is more affective than other forms of anesthesia for the execution of humans. Texas and Missouri also use single doses of pentobarbital for executions.
In the past, a three drug protocol was used and regarded as effective, it was first introduced by Jay Chapman in the 1970s. One of its main ingredients, sodium thiopental, is no longer readily available and as a result, corrections facilities have had to turn to new concotions for executions. In the July execution of Joseph Wood in Arizona, an experitmental injection resulted in a two hour death in which he gagged and choked repeatedly.
Since experimental injections have become more widely used, executions have faced increased scrutiny and lawyers of death row inmates use the experimental factor to argue for clemency.
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