Nearly 1/5 of doctors in the United States are willing...

Nearly 1/5 of doctors in the United States are willing to participate in the execution of condemned prisoners by administering a lethal injection despite opposition by leading medical societies, according to a study. The American Medical Association (AMA), the largest and most influential doctors' group in the country, is among the medical organizations that prohibit physicians from taking part in carrying out the death penalty. But a study in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine found that 19 % of 413 randomly selected practicing doctors questioned by researchers expressed willingness to inject the lethal drugs into a prisoner. 36 % of doctors said they would be willing to be present to pronounce the prisoner dead. In all, 41 % of respondents said they would be willing to perform at least 1 action relating to capital punishment prohibited by the AMA.