96: How a new death penalty method undermines physician authority

Back in February, physician and advocate Joel Zivot wrote a First Opinion essay shortly after Kenneth Smith was executed using nitrogen gas in Alabama. In “A new Louisiana capital-punishment bill would fundamentally alter physician licensing,” Zivot argues against proposed bills in both Kansas and Louisiana that would allow “death by hypoxia.” Not only is this type of death cruel and painful, he argues, but such a bill would “effectively wrest control of physician conduct from medical boards.” Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed the bill into law in early March.

In this episode, Zivot speaks with host Torie Bosch about what it means for death to be cruel, why he believes the state has no business using medicine to kill.