USA - North Carolina. The N.C. Supreme Court says that the Medical Board cannot bar doctors from participating in executions.

The N.C. Supreme Court says that the N.C. Medical Board cannot bar doctors from participating in executions. The court upheld 4-3 a lower-court's ruling that found the N.C. Medical Board overstepped its authority when it issued a position statement saying it could punish doctors for participating in an execution. The ruling clears away one obstacle to the resumption of executions, but others remain, including a lawsuit challenging how the N.C. Council of State changed execution procedures in 2007 to require someone with medical training to play a part in the execution. There hasn't been an execution in the state since that of Samuel Flippen in August 2006. There are 163 people on North Carolina's death row. The justices were deciding an appeal by the medical board from an October 2007 decision in Wake Superior Court. (see also Sept. 21, 2007; July 30, 2008; Sept. 30, 2008) .