Correctional Physicians News Today

Kenneth Smith’s execution by nitrous oxide asphyxiation raises ethical issues and asks us to rethink whether health professionals should participate in capital punishment On 25 January 2024, Kenneth Eugene Smith was killed in Alabama in the first state sanctioned nitrous oxide execution. In his last moments, he was strapped to a gurney and hooked up to a pulse oximeter, electrocardiography pads, and a full face air respirator. Nitrous oxide was touted as a humane, peaceful execution method tha...

I read with interest Wednesday’s article about the upcoming execution in Alabama using nitrogen gas. I especially noted the quotation by Dr. Jeffrey Keller of the American College of Correctional Physicians, where he stated that the procedure would be like “putting a bag over one’s head.”

Death row inmate Kenneth Smith was executed in Alabama Thursday night, becoming the first person in the US to be put to death by nitrogen gas, officials confirmed.

Kenneth Smith has become the first-ever inmate to be killed by nitrogen gas after Alabama state officials used a gas mask to replace breathable air with nitrogen, depriving him of oxygen

Kenneth Smith, 58, became the first-ever inmate in the USA to be put to death by toxic gas following an execution at Alabama's Holman Correctional Facility

Controversy surrounds the execution of convicted murderer Kenneth Smith, the first person in the US to be executed by nitrogen gas.

A death row inmate in Alabama is scheduled to become the first ever person put to death by nitrogen hypoxia on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the US Supreme Court declined to halt the execution of Alabama death row inmate Kenneth Smith, thereby paving the way for a wholly new method of execution using nitrogen gas.

Alabama is set to become the first state to use using nitrogen gas — a controversial method said to be painless that experts warn is an untested human "experiment" — in Kenneth Smith's execution Thursday.

Alabama intends to put a man to death with nitrogen gas this week unless stopped by the courts. It would be the first execution attempt with the method in the