Opinion ID: 1058176
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 15

Heading: Practice of Medicine and Provision of Healthcare Services

Text: The petitioner next argues that the lethal injection protocol is invalid because it requires medical services to be provided by persons other than licensed physicians and healthcare providers. The State responds that the lethal injection provisions created by statute do not contemplate or require the practice of medicine or the involvement of licensed healthcare providers. We agree with the Chancellor and the Court of Appeals that the petitioner is not entitled to relief on this issue. The Department of Correction was given the statutory mandate for implementing lethal injection as a means of execution. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-23-114. The plain language of the statute does not require the involvement of licensed physicians or healthcare workers, nor does it require the practice of medicine. As the Court of Appeals aptly observed, [e]xtending the licensing requirements to executions by lethal injection would have the practical effect of frustrating the Tennessee General Assembly's considered decision to adopt execution by lethal injection as the primary method for carrying out capital punishment in Tennessee. Although the experience, training, and qualifications of persons involved in the lethal injection process are relevant to cruel and unusual punishment and due process issues, the lethal injection protocol falls outside of licensing statutes applicable to physicians and healthcare providers. Accordingly, the petitioner is not entitled to relief on this ground.