Lethal injection was supposed to be the humane, enlightened way to execute inmates and avoid the pain and the gruesome spectacle of firing squads, the electric chair and the noose.

But now it, too, is under legal attack as cruel and unusual, with the U.S. Supreme Court agreeing this week to hear arguments that lethal injection can cause excruciating pain.

Some supporters of the procedure say the notion that inmates suffer is unproven. And they argue that there is nothing wrong with lethal injection itself; instead, they say, the problem is inadequately trained executioners.

In fact, the man who developed the procedure 30 years ago said it is similar to the simple injections given every day in hospitals.

“What causes it to go wrong is that the protocols aren’t carried out properly,” said Dr. A. Jay Chapman, former Oklahoma medical examiner.

If an execution is about as simple as an ordinary injection, what, then, can go wrong?

Read the full story at MSNBC 

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