1 Low levels of drug concentrations concern some experts, who say it could mean those inmates were conscious during their executions.
2 But the delays between when the inmates died and when their autopsies were performed could explain the inconsistent pattern of concentrations. Some experts believe these delays could mean inmates had higher, more effective levels of drugs in their bodies when they died but that the levels had dropped by the time of the autopsy.
3 During surgeries, anesthesiologists using thiopental kept a patient's blood concentration at 38.9 µg/mL to ensure they were anesthetized. During executions, levels are not generally monitored as closely as they are during surgery, and inmates aren't given maintenance doses to keep them under.
