Lethal injection creator fine with Ohio’s 1-drug plan, says number of chemicals doesn’t matter

Lethal injection creator fine with 1 drug in Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The man considered the father of lethal injection in the U.S. says it doesn’t matter if three fatal drugs are used or one, as his home state of Ohio has proposed.

Dr. Jay Chapman says he never gave much thought to the number of drugs used, only that they work efficiently. He says Ohio’s plan to adopt a one-drug protocol fits that goal.

Chapman developed the three-drug lethal injection cocktail in the 1970s when he was the Oklahoma state medical examiner. Other states copied Oklahoma.

He says there was no particular reason he didn’t propose a single drug, other than a concern that it might take a little longer to work.

Now Chapman said the system he helped create shows condemned inmates too much mercy.