LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Carol Weihrer knows firsthand how painful it can be when anesthesia doesn't kick in during a medical procedure.
The Reston, Va., resident felt every moment of a two-hour eye surgery, but she was paralyzed by another drug and could not alert doctors.
"It looked pretty boring," Weihrer said about a video of her surgery. "It was quite painful."
Weihrer's experience highlights the central argument in the latest debate over capital punishment.
Attorneys in at least a dozen of the 37 states that use lethal injection have pursued lawsuits claiming the procedure is unconstitutionally cruel because the anesthetic doesn't last through the entire procedure. They argue that inmates are exposed to excruciating pain when other drugs are injected into their systems.