Execution by the injection of chemicals into the body. Lethal injection is the means of execution used in most jurisdictions that employ the death penalty. Lethal injection is administered by prison employees who are not medical doctors. Most states follow the example upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2008, using a combination of the drugs sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride, although the effects and the risks of this procedure remain highly controversial. Several states allow a condemned prisoner to opt for death by other means.
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