By AP/KWMU
Kansas City, MO. – A federal judge is ordering the Missouri Department of Corrections to develop sweeping changes to its execution protocol and halting executions until the changes are made.
U.S. Judge Fernando Gaitan, Jr., cites concerns in a ruling Monday in the case of death row inmate Michael Taylor of Kansas City.
He says he believes that Missouri's lethal injection procedure subjects condemned inmates to an unnecessary risk of unconstitutional pain and suffering.
Gaitan ordered the Corrections Department to revise its protocol.
Among the changes, only a board-certified anesthesiologist shall mix the drugs. It has been done for years by a surgeon with dyslexia.
Other changes call for a minimum dose of anesthesia, a mechanism for monitoring the inmate's anesthetic depth, and an auditing
process.