Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/14pdf/14-7955_aplc.pdf
Page Number: 110

14 

GLOSSIP v. GROSS 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

These  inconsistencies  and  inaccuracies  go  to  the  very
heart  of  Dr.  Evans’  expert  opinion,  as  they  were  the  key
components of his professed belief that one can extrapolate
from what is known about midazolam’s effect at low doses 
to  conclude  that  the  drug  would  “paralyz[e]  the  brain”  at
Oklahoma’s  planned  dose.    Id.,  at  314.    All  three  experts
recognized that there had been no scientific testing on the 
use of this amount of midazolam in conjunction with these 
particular lethal injection drugs.  See ante, at 19; App. 176 
(Lubarsky),  243–244  (Sasich),  327  (Evans).    For  this  rea­
son,  as  the  Court  correctly  observes,  “extrapolation  was
reasonable.”    Ante,  at  20.  But  simply  because  extrapola­
tion  may  be  reasonable  or  even  required  does  not  mean
that  every  conceivable  method  of  extrapolation  can  be 
credited,  or  that  all  estimates  stemming  from  purported
extrapolation  are  worthy  of  belief.    Dr.  Evans’  view  was 
that because 40 milligrams of midazolam could be used to 
induce unconsciousness, App. 294, and because more drug 
will  generally  produce  more  effect,  a  significantly  larger
dose of 500 milligrams would not just induce unconscious­
ness but allow for its maintenance in the face of extremely 
painful stimuli, and ultimately even cause death itself.  In 
his words: “[A]s you increase the dose of midazolam, it’s a 
linear  effect,  so  you’re  going  to  continue  to  get  an  impact
from  higher  doses  of  the  drug.”    Id.,  at  332.  If,  however, 
there is a ceiling with respect to midazolam’s effect on the 
brain—as  petitioners’  experts  established  there  is—then
such simplistic logic is not viable.  In this context, more is 
not necessarily better, and Dr. Evans was plainly wrong to 
presume it would be.

If Dr. Evans had any other basis for the “extrapolation” 
that  led  him  to  conclude  500  milligrams  of  midazolam
would  “paralyz[e]  the  brain,”  id.,  at  314,  it  was  even  fur­
ther  divorced  from  scientific  evidence  and  logic.    Having 
emphasized  that  midazolam  had  been  known  to  cause 
approximately  80  deaths,  Dr.  Evans  asserted  that  his