Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

State sanctioned executions in the age of COVID-19

Kasey Johnson, DO
Policy
January 21, 2021
Share
Tweet
Share

When the federal government executed Corey Johnson at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, on the 14th of January, 2021, he was COVID-19 positive. He was executed while suffering from a highly contagious respiratory illness that is killing over 4,000 Americans each day. Despite his positive diagnosis for COVID-19 and his risk for infecting those around him with this respiratory illness, Corey Johnson’s execution was not postponed. Who were the medical professionals treating Corey Johnson and overseeing the workers’ health at the U.S. Federal Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana? What is the line of command where an order of execution of an individual supersedes medical decision-making and CDC guidelines? The choice made to execute Corey Johnson while he had an active COVID-19 infection demands that we look at who decided to expose prison personnel to COVID-19 and why CDC guidelines were violated along with an absence of medical decision-making.

Corey Johnson’s legal team argued that due to his infection with COVID-19, injecting him with a lethal dose of pentobarbital, the barbiturate currently used in lethal injections, would be extremely painful, a “cruel and unusual” punishment. They argued that he would endure “lung burning” due to the fluid in his lungs from his COVID-19 infection. Who were the medical personnel present to corroborate this medical diagnosis and present it to the legal authorities responsible for carrying out this sentence? Who were the medical physicians responsible for evaluating the patient, the setting, and making recommendations concerning the health and safety of all involved in this federal execution? Who were the public health officers, those physicians charged with safeguarding and investigating the public’s health at this long-term care facility?

Reports have emerged that prison personnel were not wearing masks. Many others present would have been close contacts. The CDC defines close contacts as 15 cumulative minutes with a person infected with COVID-19. After a lethal injection of pentobarbital, it took Corey Johnson’s body 20 minutes to stop trying to live. Everyone present for his execution, those were strapped him down and were within 6 feet of him are close contacts and now need to quarantine and be tested for COVID-19. Why were prison workers not wearing masks around an individual who was COVID-19 positive? Who was the person responsible in that facility for enforcing COVID-19 protocols, and why were they absent from this execution? Furthermore, why were two individuals on death row, Corey Johnson and Dustin Higgs, COVID-19 positive in the first place? Who is leading the U.S. Federal Penitentiary’s COVID-19 response during this pandemic? What have local authorities done, if anything, to halt the spread of COVID-19 in this high-risk and vulnerable setting?

While his legal team and advocates sought to postpone Corey Johnson’s execution until after his infectious period was over, their pleas were denied. Who was responsible for issuing orders that contradict the CDC’s guidelines around infection, exposure, and the risks COVID-19 poses to those who work and those who live in prisons? My hope is that more medical oversight occurs in federal prisons. The fact that no physician was consulted, no public health official was consulted, and the blatant disregard for public health and medical consequences of COVID-19 spread within federal penitentiaries and their surrounding communities deserves our attention. While our government encourages us all to wear masks, socially distance, and wash hands, the fact that this is NOT occurring in our prisons, the site of our justice system, is appalling. We should all be moved to work toward better public health and medical oversight of long-term care facilities like prisons. May no one else at the U.S. Federal Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, their families, their surrounding community, catch COVID-19 or die from this respiratory illness. May we all follow CDC guidelines to protect ourselves and our loved ones.

Kasey Johnson is a medical student.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

How the vaccinated may become the next super-spreaders

January 21, 2021 Kevin 2
…
Next

There's a doctor in the house, and maybe also a physician: a view from osteopathic medicine

January 21, 2021 Kevin 3
…

Tagged as: COVID, Infectious Disease

Post navigation

< Previous Post
How the vaccinated may become the next super-spreaders
Next Post >
There's a doctor in the house, and maybe also a physician: a view from osteopathic medicine

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Kasey Johnson, DO

  • Rural health care advocacy: Inspiring communities

    Kasey Johnson, DO
  • Politics is health care on a grand scale

    Kasey Johnson, DO
  • Reimagining medical education from within a pandemic

    Kasey Johnson, DO

Related Posts

  • COVID-19 shows why we need health insurance

    Jingyi Liu, MD
  • How to get patients vaccinated against COVID-19 [PODCAST]

    The Podcast by KevinMD
  • COVID-19 divides and conquers

    Michele Luckenbaugh
  • A patient’s COVID-19 reflections

    Michele Luckenbaugh
  • Starting medical school in the midst of COVID-19

    Horacio Romero Castillo
  • Lip reading during the COVID-19 mask era

    Lauren Follmar

More in Policy

  • How pediatricians can address the health problems raised in the MAHA child health report

    Joseph Barrocas, MD
  • How reforming insurance, drug prices, and prevention can cut health care costs

    Patrick M. O'Shaughnessy, DO, MBA
  • Bundled payments in Medicare: Will fixed pricing reshape surgery costs?

    AMA Committee on Economics and Quality in Medicine, Medical Student Section
  • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

    Joshua Vasquez, MD
  • Online eye exams spark legal battle over health care access

    Joshua Windham, JD and Daryl James
  • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

    Holland Haynie, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why taxing remittances harms families and global health care

      Dalia Saha, MD | Finance
    • How AI, animals, and ecosystems reveal a new kind of intelligence

      Fateh Entabi, MD | Tech
    • Why kratom addiction is the next public health crisis

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Meds
    • A physician employment agreement term that often tricks physicians

      Dennis Hursh, Esq | Finance
    • Confronting the return of measles and vaccine misinformation [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The hidden reason your vacations never feel like enough

      Kent DeLay, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • When medicine surrenders to ideology

      Anonymous | Physician
    • How just culture can reduce burnout and boost health care staff retention

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why embracing imperfection makes you truly unforgettable

      Osmund Agbo, MD | Physician
    • Affordable postpartum hemorrhage solutions every OB/GYN should know

      Frank I. Jackson, DO | Conditions
    • Why kratom addiction is the next public health crisis

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Meds
    • Why taxing remittances harms families and global health care

      Dalia Saha, MD | Finance

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why taxing remittances harms families and global health care

      Dalia Saha, MD | Finance
    • How AI, animals, and ecosystems reveal a new kind of intelligence

      Fateh Entabi, MD | Tech
    • Why kratom addiction is the next public health crisis

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Meds
    • A physician employment agreement term that often tricks physicians

      Dennis Hursh, Esq | Finance
    • Confronting the return of measles and vaccine misinformation [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The hidden reason your vacations never feel like enough

      Kent DeLay, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • When medicine surrenders to ideology

      Anonymous | Physician
    • How just culture can reduce burnout and boost health care staff retention

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why embracing imperfection makes you truly unforgettable

      Osmund Agbo, MD | Physician
    • Affordable postpartum hemorrhage solutions every OB/GYN should know

      Frank I. Jackson, DO | Conditions
    • Why kratom addiction is the next public health crisis

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Meds
    • Why taxing remittances harms families and global health care

      Dalia Saha, MD | Finance

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...