Page:Glossip v. Gross.pdf/111

 Cite as: 576 U. S. ____ (2015)

15

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting

opinion regarding the efficacy of Oklahoma’s planned use of the drug represented “essentially an extrapolation from a toxic effect.” Id., at 327 (emphasis added); see id., at 308. Thus, Dr. Evans appeared to believe—and again, I say “appeared” because his rationale is not clear—that because midazolam caused some deaths, it would neces­ sarily cause complete unconsciousness and then death at especially high doses. But Dr. Evans also thought, and Dr. Lubarsky confirmed, that these midazolam fatalities had occurred at very low doses—well below what any expert said would produce unconsciousness. See id., at 207, 308. These deaths thus seem to represent the rare, unfortunate side effects that one would expect to see with any drug at normal therapeutic doses; they provide no indication of the effect one would expect midazolam to have on the brain at substantially higher doses. Deaths occur with almost any product. One might as well say that because some people occasionally die from eating one peanut, one hundred peanuts would necessarily induce a coma and death in anyone.3 In sum, then, Dr. Evans’ conclusions were entirely unsupported by any study or third-party source, contra­ dicted by the extrinsic evidence proffered by petitioners, inconsistent with the scientific understanding of midazo­ lam’s properties, and apparently premised on basic logical errors. Given these glaring flaws, the District Court’s —————— 3 For

all the reasons discussed in Part II–B, infra, and contrary to the Court’s claim, see ante, at 20, n. 4, there are good reasons to doubt that 500 milligrams of midazolam will, in light of the ceiling effect, inevita­ bly kill someone. The closest the record comes to providing support for this contention is the fleeting mention in the FDA-approved product label that one of the possible consequences of midazolam overdosage is coma. See ante, at 21, n. 5. Moreover, even if this amount of the drug could kill some people in “under an hour,” ante, at 20, n. 4, that would not necessarily mean that the condemned would be insensate during the approximately 10 minutes it takes for the paralytic and potassium chloride to do their work.