Fordham Law Professor Deborah Denno spoke with Truthout on the role medical professionals play in the death penalty.
Deborah Denno, professor of law at Fordham University and lethal injection expert, told Truthout that there should be more attention paid to the role medical professionals play in executions. “I think generally people are looking more at secrecy and drug acquisition. The Supreme Court hasn’t really looked at medical professionals. But they’ve always been involved. They’ve always been there and it’s ongoing.”
Denno noted that doctors who do participate are not always the best of the best — in part because the pay is low and many of these doctors have had little success elsewhere. “And then we often only find out there are doctors present when there’s a problem,” she said.
