The state of Ohio will be increasing the dosages of two lethal injection drugs, after controversy surrounding the execution of Dennis McGuire.
According to TIME, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said that the dosage of midazolam, a sedative, would be increased from 10 mg to 50 mg, while hydromorphone, which is used to stop one’s breathing, would be increased from 40 mg to 50 mg.
The controversy over the injection drugs began after witnesses stated that Dennis McGuire gasped and made snorting sounds for up to 26 minutes before dying, in January 2014.
McGuire’s execution was said to be the longest since Ohio resumed the death sentence in 1999.
According to a review by the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, McGuire, who raped and killed a pregnant woman in 1989, “did not experience pain, distress or air hunger after the drugs were administered or when the bodily movements and sounds occurred”, reports BBC News.
However, McGuire’s adult children spoke out against the execution, saying that it amounted to torture and nobody should have to go through that.
This policy change comes 30 days before Ohio’s next execution, of a man convicted of killing a produce vendor in 1983.