In the new Ohio protocol, another alternative, intramuscular injection, is available as a backup. This method has not been used before, but was given the thumbs up by Massachusetts anesthesiologist Dr. Mark Dershwitz, the one doctor in America who seems willing to help states kill prisoners. A local Ohio doctor, Jonathan Groner, seems to disagree, suggesting that legal challenges are far from over. “In the end this is still about killing people.”
It is indeed, and if this protocol proves acceptable to Ohio and federal courts, the lethal injection of Kenneth Biros and others could be back on schedule (the stay of Biros’ December 8 date is only temporary), and Ohio’s one-a-month assembly line of executions could be back in business.