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{{more citations needed section|date=March 2017}}
Terminally ill patients in Oregon who have requested physician-assisted suicide have received lethal doses of barbiturates. The protocol has been highly effective in producing a so-called painless death, but the time required to cause death can be prolonged. Some patients have taken days to die, and a few patients have actually survived the process and have regained consciousness up to three days after taking the lethal dose.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/7090928 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224153944/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/7090928/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 24, 2013 |title=Patient survives doctor-assisted suicide attempt: Terminally ill cancer victim awakes from coma after 3 days |agency=Associated Press |date=March 4, 2005}}</ref> In a California legal proceeding addressing the issue of the lethal-injection cocktail being "cruel and unusual," state authorities said that the time to death following a single injection of a barbiturate could be as much as 45 minutes.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://articles.latimes.com/2006/feb/15/local/me-morales15/2 |work=Los Angeles Times |title=Change in Lethal Injections Ordered |first=Louis |last=Sahagun |date=February 15, 2006 |access-date=May 2, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512054624/http://articles.latimes.com/2006/feb/15/local/me-morales15/2 |archive-date=May 12, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
Barbiturate overdoses typically cause death by depression of the respiratory center, but the effect is variable.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Kang |first1=Michael |title=Benzodiazepine Toxicity |date=2023 |url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482238/ |work=StatPearls |access-date=2023-06-14 |place=Treasure Island (FL) |publisher=StatPearls Publishing |pmid=29489152 |last2=Galuska |first2=Michael A. |last3=Ghassemzadeh |first3=Sassan}}</ref> Some patients may have complete cessation of respiratory drive, whereas others may only have depression of respiratory function.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Drechsler |first1=Michael |title=Carbon Dioxide Narcosis |date=2023 |url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK551620/ |work=StatPearls |access-date=2023-06-14 |place=Treasure Island (FL) |publisher=StatPearls Publishing |pmid=31869084 |last2=Morris |first2=Jason}}</ref> In addition, cardiac activity can last for a long time after cessation of respiration. Since death is pronounced after asystole and given that the expectation is for a rapid death in lethal injection, multiple drugs are required, specifically potassium chloride to stop the heart. In fact, in the case of [[Clarence Ray Allen]], a second dose of potassium chloride was required to attain.
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