What is out of the norm about this, it is Missouri afterall
A doctor who oversaw dozens of Missouri executions until his questionable practices led a judge to suspend executions in the state, has been sued for malpractice more than 20 times and has a history of making medical mistakes, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on Sunday.
Alan R. Doerhoff, 62, also has been banned from at least two Missouri hospitals and was publicly reprimanded by the state's Board of Healing Arts in 2003 because Doerhoff was trying to conceal malpractice claims from hospitals where he was working, the newspaper reported.
The state Attorney General's Office was aware of the reprimand, but the state Department of Corrections continued to employ Doerhoff to handle lethal injections, the Post-Dispatch reported.
Indeed, the state tried to keep his identity a secret in an appeal earlier this year by inmate Michael A. Taylor, who claimed the heart-stopping drug given in lethal injections can cause excruciating pain if the inmate is not given proper levels of anesthesia first.
Lawyers reviewing execution logs found that the anesthesia Doerhoff had prepared for Taylor's execution before it was stayed in February was only half the amount it should have been, and records of previous executions indicated similar improperly prepared doses.
The doctor then admitted he was dyslexic, sometimes transposing numbers, and last month U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan suspended executions until the state hires a board-certified anesthesiologist to ensure that the drugs used in lethal injections were properly prepared.
