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Description
Nembutal Pentobarbital sodium is a short-acting barbiturate, chemically designated as sodium 5-ethyl-5-(1-methylbutyl) barbiturate. This is one of the reasons for being more suitable for suicide than longer-acting barbiturates such as phenobarbital. Nembutal is a proven, reliable drug that brings about a peaceful death. Almost no failures are known, despite large statistics (for example, the Swiss euthanasia organisation Dignitas reported 840 exits with no single failure). There are however reports on seemingly slow or painful deaths with Nembutal in capital punishment, although this may be due to poor quality of the drug from compounding pharmacies given intravenously rather than orally.
Nembutal Pentobarbital sodium is sold most of the time in liquid form for use as a sedative and anesthetic in hospitals. veterinary Nembutal is a liquid and not in pill-form, which means that it has a shorter shelf life. On the other hand, Seconal (secobarbital), a short acting barbiturate that is as powerful as Nembutal if not more powerful, is still available in capsule form in the USA, EUROPE and probably the UK. Nembutal pills has a bitter taste that require the use of antiemetics to prevent vomiting when given orally at high dosages.
It is easy from today form today to obtain vials of Nembutal Sodium Solution (pentobarbital sodium injection), a sterile solution for intravenous or intramuscular injection, typically used for animal anaesthesia or euthanasia. Each mL contains pentobarbital sodium 50 mg ,100 mg or 250 mg (lethal dose) in a vehicle of approximately propylene glycol, 40%, alcohol, 10% and water for injection, to volume. The pH is adjusted to approximately 9.5 with hydrochloric acid and/or sodium hydroxide. The range of actual pentobarbital sodium in a vial may vary between 3 g to 15 g, although 6 g seems common. The containers come in a clear vial typical for sterile solutions, and should have an untouched protective metal cap if unopened, and be labelled clearly with due date. The nembutal solution may be taken intravenously, for very quick effect as in capital punishment, or orally. Nembutal Pentobarbital sodium, unlike other lethal drugs, may not require any additional drugs. Only antiemetic drugs must be taken in advance, in order to prevent any vomiting from occurring. This has been partially endorsed by experts in administration of the death penalty, whereby a pure barbiturate method has been deemed less painful and more successful than prior 3-drug approaches and newer concoctions involving e.g. Midazolam (in the traditional 3-drug approach, a barbiturate was one of the components). There have, however, been reports of less successful attempts, the cause of which have been debated. The use of pentobarbital-only has also been called into question by some experts on capital punishment.
