Physicians and the Death Penalty
HENRY WILDE, M.D.*, SUKHIT PHAOSA V ASDI, M.D.***, SURASAK TANEEPANICHSKUL, M.D.*** CHUMSAK PRUKSAPONG, M.D. **, YUEN TANNIRANDORN, M.D.***,
Affiliation : * Queen Savapha, Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok 10330, ** Department of Surgery, Police Hospital, Bangkok 10330, *** Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
Thailand has 53 convicts sentenced to
death and waiting for reprieve or execution in its
prison system, one of whom is female. Since 1935,
279 convicted felons have actually been executed.
There are now motions to expedite this issue, par-
ticularly for drug traffickers, in order to create
examples. Physicians and I or nurses have partici-
pated in executions in the past in two ways, to cer-
tify that the prisoner was alive and conscious before
and dead after he was shot. Furthermore, it has
recently been suggested that execution by shooting
be replaced by lethal injection in order to make the
process more sanitary and humane. This, presu-
mably, would also require some participation by
physicians or nurses. There have recently been press
items describing in more or less glowing terms the
humanitarianism and achievements of a Chinese
prison doctor who executed prisoners "with kind
word" by lethal injection. "They were so pleased to
be spared the traditional bullet in the neck, that
they willingly lied down in the grass to be injected
and did not need to be tied down in any way"
(Bangkok Post 1995).
The authors do not wish to discuss the
merits of capital punishment. Let it be said, how
ever, that it is an irrevocable and gruesome act that
can not be "sanitized" and that innocently accused
have been executed in many countries. Physicians
and nurses are not judges and neither must they
become executioner's assistants. They have sworn
to protect life, do no harm and help the sick. Killing
or participation in it by doctors or nurses is clearly
an unprofessional and unethical act by current inter-
national standards( 1-4). Many medical associations
have defined this issue and prohibited members of
the healing professions to participate in any way
whatsoever in torture and executions(4). This may
create problems for doctors and nurses who are
employed by the judicial system or prisons. Regula-
tions need to be formulated which permit them to
refuse participation without loosing their position or
being otherwise penalized. This has been done by
other countries and needs to be considered in Thai-
land. If capital punishment is carried out at all it
should be reserved for gruesome crimes where there
is no possibility of doubt of guilt. Never for politi-
cal offenses as such can often be viewed in many
different ways. It does not take a doctor or nurse to
determine whether a person has been shot dead or
poisoned to death by an intravenous infusion.
Keywords : Physicians, Death Penalty
