Idaho will begin using central veins deep in the groin, neck, chest or arm for executions by lethal injection if attempts to insert standard IV lines fail

BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Idaho will begin using central veins deep in the groin, neck, chest or arm for executions by lethal injection if attempts to insert standard IV lines fail, the Idaho Department of Correction announced Tuesday.

Using a central venous line -- which involves threading a catheter through deep veins until it reaches a location near the heart -- has long been a backup plan under the state's official execution policy, but it has never been used because prison officials said the execution chamber was not designed in a way to protect the subject's dignity during the process of inserting the line.

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