EXPLAINER: Why are states having lethal injection problems?

OKLAHOMA CITY — A scheduled execution in Alabama that was called off Thursday after prison officials couldn’t find a suitable vein to inject the lethal drugs into is the latest in a long history of problems with lethal injections since Texas became the first state to use the execution method in 1982, including delays in finding usable veins.

Here’s a look at some of the issues states across the country are facing when it comes to lethal injections.

WHAT HAPPENED IN ALABAMA?

Alabama’s lethal injection protocol calls for two intravenous lines to be connected, with the second line to be used in case of a problem with the first. Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said prison staff were able to successfully establish one line on Thursday during its attempt to executed Kenneth Eugene Smith, but were unsuccessful with a second line, even after trying several locations on Smith’s body.

Officials then attempted to establish a central line, which involves a catheter placed into a large vein and occasionally the use of a scalpel to enlarge the insertion site, but ultimately decided to call off the execution after realizing they were not going to be able to complete that procedure before Smith’s death warrant expired at midnight.

It is the second execution since September the state has canceled because of difficulties with establishing an IV line with a deadline looming. In another Alabama execution earlier this year, prison officials poked Alan Eugene Miller with needles for more than an hour trying to find a vein, and at one point left him hanging vertically on a gurney before state officials made the decision to call off the execution.

On Friday, Smith’s lawyers filed an emergency motion asking to meet with Smith at the prison where he is incarcerated and for a judge to order the state to preserve notes and other materials that might detail what happened in the failed execution.

WHAT’S HAPPENED IN OTHER STATES?

Numerous other states that use lethal injection have encountered various problems with the execution method in the almost 40 years it’s been used, including difficulty finding usable veins, needles becoming disengaged or problems with the lethal chemicals.

In Oklahoma in 2014, condemned inmate Clayton Lockett writhed, clenched his teeth and attempted to lift himself up from the gurney after he had been declared unconscious when the state used a new drug, the sedative midazolam, in its three-drug…