USA - Oklahoma. The state plans to have new lethal injection protocols written within 2 weeks

The state plans to have new lethal injection protocols written within 2 weeks, in order to be ready for the next execution, which is scheduled for Nov. 13. Oklahoma is renovating its death chamber and buying new equipment for executions - including a tool to allow staff to more easily find suitable veins for lethal injections - after the troubled execution of Clayton Lockett earlier this year, the director of the state Department of Corrections Robert Patton said today. The move follows a state report released last week (see Sept. 4) that faulted poor monitoring of the intravenous line delivering the fatal drugs during the April 29 execution, in which the prisoner writhed and gasped on a gurney for 43 minutes. "I am extremely confident that these changes will have executions moving smoothly in the future," Patton said. Republican Gov. Mary Fallin said last week (see Sept. 5) that more executions would not take place until the new protocols are in place. When asked if he was embarrassed by the Lockett execution, Patton said: "It was clear that we needed a review." The state's Department of Public Safety (DPS) report last week blamed Lockett's flawed lethal injection on poor placement of intravenous lines, saying the medical team could not find suitable veins in Lockett's arms, legs, neck or feet before the line was inserted into his groin. The report said a doctor and paramedic trying to execute Lockett failed nearly a dozen times to place an IV in his body and were unprepared for how to proceed once the line they secured to deliver a lethal injection began leaking drugs, causing a swelling in Lockett's leg slightly larger than a golf ball. Death penalty opponents slammed the execution as an example of the inhumane nature of the punishment. DPS investigators made 11 recommendations to improve the process, including having additional lethal injection drugs on hand, more training for medical personnel in the death chamber and leaving the IV area of the body exposed so it can be monitored. Among the changes under way are a fresh coat of paint for the death chamber, new seating for witnesses and expanded medical equipment that includes a vein finder and a heart monitoring machine, Patton said. Patton declined comment on whether the sedative midazolam, which was used for the 1st time in the state with Lockett, will continue to be part of Oklahoma's lethal injection method. Use of the drug is being challenged in a federal lawsuit filed by death row inmates including Oklahoma's Charles Warner. Warner was set to die on the same day as Lockett, but his execution was postponed after problems with Lockett's lethal injection. Now he is next on the state's death penalty schedule, with his execution set for Nov. 13. Gov. Fallin has said she wants the new guidelines implemented before the state conducts another execution. Patton said he would inform Fallin if new procedures are not in place or training is not done before Warner's execution day. But critics contend there is no quick fix for a troubled system. Oklahoma is also facing lawsuits over its execution protocols and the combination of chemicals it uses. Midazolam has come under scrutiny after it was used in problematic executions in the state earlier this year, as well as Ohio and Arizona. In each case, witnesses said the inmates gasped after their executions began and continued to labor for air before being pronounced dead.